How SILABU app is addressing challenges facing slow learners

AFTER learning that slow learners are failing to cope with other pupils amid the shortage of teachers in the country, developers of social learning app ‘SILABU’ have said the platform is a solution to the problem.

SILABU, a brainchild of three Tanzanian youths namely: Salvatory Kessy, Adam Duma and Seraphin Kimaryo, is among products that is attracting the majority of parents at the ongoing 47^th   Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF).

Speaking to the Daily News over the weekend, SILABU’s chief operating officer (COO), Adam Duma said majority of teachers tend to go with fast learning pupils in order to finish their syllabus while the slow learners lag behind.

Mr Duma who is a teacher by professional said the developed app is also helping slow learners, who have been affected by different factor including illness, child abuse and nutritional issues, through subscription where a teacher will visit a pupil at home, assessing him or her before teaching to cope with others.

“Due to the high cost of learning and the shortage of teachers across the continent, my fellows (co-founders) and I made the decision three years ago to address these challenges by creating the Silabu app.

“Silabu is a mobile app specifically designed to empower Africa’s 200 million students. It enables them to access academic subjects and acquire new skills through online peer learning, participate in live online group classes with the top 1 per cent of tutors, and receive on-demand one-on-one assistance from these exceptional tutors,” he added.

He said that the application is also designed not only to empower students academically, but also to provide employment to qualified teachers who are in the streets with no job.

According to him, 85 per cent of the income generated through the programme is being used to pay teachers while the remaining 15 per cent is retained at SILABU as an operation cost.

Moreover, the app connects students from different schools to easily share educational resources, participate in live classes, take auto-marked exams, and engage in discussions to solve various questions, all from the convenience of their mobile phones.

“For instance, students can effortlessly create peer-to-peer classes in under 30 seconds and begin learning from one another. Imagine students from Kibaha forming a class and engaging in collaborative learning with like-minded students from other schools such as Mzumbe, Majengo, Feza, Maria, Ifunda, Loleza, and many more,” he added.