Whether it 's learning how to read and write or setting up your own farm , a Zambian computer tablet -- known as the ZEduPad -- is trying to open up the country 's information highway . The brain child of British tech entrepreneur Mark Bennett , the ZEduPad principally teaches users basic numeracy and literacy skills , aimed at primary school children . `` It became clear that there was a huge need for this kind of technology , '' Bennett said , `` particularly tablet technology , which has come a long way in Africa in recent years . '' After arriving in Zambia 30 years ago under the British Aid Program , Bennett worked in the computer department at the country 's national university for over a decade before deciding to go it alone . `` We can really do something very major for the first time , '' he said . `` We 've invested about $ 5 million to date ... It 's totally all-encompassing and quite prescriptive so we are aiming at being able to get to an untrained teacher in a deep rural area in the African bush . '' Interactive learning . The ZEduPad is programmed in eight different languages native to Zambia with over 12,000 preloaded classes and lesson plans for untrained teachers in rural areas , according to Bennett . Approved by the Zambian Ministry of Education , the educational tablet allows children to create a personal profile on its seven-inch screen to keep track of their progress as well as exposing them to e-mail and Wikipedia . Bennett said the ZEduPad is set up to teach grades one to seven through interactive learning in every subject from math to PE , art and music . The technology comes at a time when Zambia 's educational system is undergoing sweeping changes . Since 2001 , the government has increased primary school enrollment rates by 90 % . As a result , the World Bank has identified the landlocked southern African nation as having one of the most improved primary school education systems in the developing world . Bennett added : `` For years there was a problem with funding , education was not keeping up with population growth . Young people coming out of school and not being well suited or prepared to enter the job market ... . We 're trying to change that . '' The ZEduPad gives children a grasp of vital technology skills in a landlocked country where broadband is scarce and only 18 % of the nation 's 14 million people have access to electricity , according to the World Bank . In addition to following the national curriculum , the tablet also contains farming and health information designed for adults to help prevent the spread of killer diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria . Outsourcing to China . The ZEduPad is currently manufactured , assembled and branded in China . The devices are then loaded onto a plane and transported to Zambia , where Bennett and his team install the software onto each tablet . `` It costs roughly $ 100 to have them made and landed here in this country , '' Bennett said . `` We sell them to teachers and schools for $ 200 at the moment . We hope to bring that price down . One of the other things we 're trying to do is provide significant tech support . '' After teachers purchase the ZEduPad , Bennett said his team of experts go into schools and provide tutorials for staff so that they can maximize the tablets ' functions while learning how to deliver lessons to pupils . Bennett said the tablet has , at one time or another , helped employ over 250 staff working in the development and distribution of the software from the company 's base in the Zambian capital , Lusaka . He says he has approached the government over hiring assembly workers in Zambia but to no avail . He said that at a time when few companies are manufacturing technology outside of the Far East , production in China is `` the cheapest and most cost-effective thing to do . '' 'Huge change ' Looking ahead , Bennett does n't want to stop at Zambia but hopes to roll the educational tablet out to a raft of other nations on the continent . He believes that as countries in the developed world continue to transition from desktop computers to smart devices , Africa has a real chance to leapfrog ahead . `` I think the next big challenge is going to come from a lot of people who have got very cheap mobile phones . We 'll gradually see Android smartphones coming out for $ 70 or so ... Huge change is happening at the moment , '' Bennett said . READ THIS : Africa 's super telescopes . READ THIS : Why tech innovators are Africa 's future .
The Zambian ZEduPad is an educational tablet for children . Created by British businessman Mark Bennett , the ZEduPad has over 12,000 installed classes . Bennett said the ZEduPad is set up to teach grades one to seven . He hopes to roll the tablet out to a raft of other nations on the continent .