Pal Portable Academic Lapdesk

2022 WAS THE NINTH YEAR THE PAL - PORTABLE ACADEMIC LAPDESK, HAS WORKED TO IMPROVE THE EDUCATION OF PRIMARY STUDENTS IN THE NATION OF MALAWI. THE WORLD WIDE COVID -19 PANDEMIC BROUGHT GREAT CHALLENGES TO MALAWI AS A NATION AND HAD A PARTICULARLY HARD IMPACT ON EDUCATION. 2022 WAS THE TURNAROUND YEAR FOR MALAWI WITH SCHOOLS COMING BACK INTO SESSIONS ON A FULL TIME BASIS. THIS WAS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT FOR MALAWI AS MANY SCHOOLS HAVE NO ELECTRICITY AND IMPOVERISHED SITUATIONS GIVE NO ALTERNATIVES IF CLASS IS CANCELED. TEEN PREGNANCIES RATES SKY ROCKETED DURING COVID RESTRICTIONS ACCORDING TO REPORTS; AND VIOLENCE INCREASED AS YOUNG MEN FOUND THEMSELVES WITH NOWHERE TO GO AND NO MOTIVATION OR HELP WITH THEIR LEARNING. DURING THE 2022 OUTREACH TO MALAWI 14 SCHOOLS WERE VISITED ALONG WITH TRAINING OF OVER 400 TEACHERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF 1500 LAPDESKS. WE HAVE TEAM MEMBERS READY AND PREPARED TO TRAVEL ONCE AGAIN. WE NOW HAVE OVER 5,500 PALS IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. THESE PALS HAVE IMPACTED OVER 145,000 STUDENTS, 86 SCHOOLS, NEARLY 2,700 TEACHERS AS WELL AS THE 91 TEAM MEMBERS WHO HAVE TRAVELED TO AFRICA AND HELPED WITH TRAINING AND DISTRIBUTION. THE ASSESSMENT FORMS RETURNED FROM THE HEAD MASTERS AND TEACHERS HAVE STATED OVER AND OVER THE IMPROVEMENT OF TEST SCORES, ATTENDANCE, CLASS ROOM PARTICIPATION, LEARNERS ABILITY TO RECITE THE MATHEMATICAL TIMES TABLES, IMPROVED PENMANSHIP AND MANY MORE IMPROVEMENTS IN THEIR CLASS ROOMS. THE TEACHERS THEMSELVES HAVE STATED HOW MUCH EASIER IT IS TO PREPARE LESSONS WITH THE USE OF THE PAL AND ACCOMPANYING TEACHERS MANUAL. IT IS OUR GOAL TO ONCE AGAIN PROVIDE THESE TOOLS TO TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS IN MALAWI.FUND RAISING AND GRANT APPLICATIONS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE PURSUED. PAL IS IN THIS WORK FOR THE LONG HAUL AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO THE WORK INTO MALAWI.