Tech-Enabled Inclusion for Strengthening Malawi's Education Policy for SEND Learners

In Malawi, an estimated 14% of children aged 5 to 17 have at least one functional difficulty, yet fewer than one in three children with disabilities attend school. Despite a strong rights-based legal framework and international commitments under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the Salamanca Statement, the expiration of the National Inclusive Education Strategy (2017–2021) has left a significant implementation gap. Teachers and education personnel lack unified national guidance on the identification, assessment, and support of learners with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Systemic constraints, including acute specialist teacher shortages, limited data disaggregation, and fragmented resource allocation, continue to undermine equitable provision. This policy brief examines how targeted integration of technology for teacher development and accessible digital content, and data-driven screening tools can bridge the capacity constraints and address systemic gaps. Drawing on the emerging EdTech landscape in Malawi, the brief offers four recommendations. First, finalising a tech-forward national inclusive education policy; second, modernising data systems for nuanced SEND identification; third, leveraging digital platforms for scalable teacher capacity building; and finally, bridging the innovation-to-scale gap for EdTech and assistive devices. Realising inclusive education in Malawi requires not only institutional commitment, but a consolidated national strategy that embeds technology as a structural enabler for every learner. An output of the EdTech Hub, edtechhub.org

Available from https://docs.edtechhub.org/…