Sections:

Malawi's children learn to enjoy school

November 01 2007

Young leaners in Malawi One of DFID’s key goals is to ensure that all children in poor countries get an education. A guaranteed place in school gives children the right start in life, equipping them with essential skills for the future and offering a route out of poverty.

In Malawi, enrolment rates have increased massively since primary school places were made free in 1994. But getting children into school is not the end of the story - they need to stay in school, all the way until their final exams, gaining an education that makes a positive difference to their lives. A new curriculum, rolled out earlier this year and funded by DFID, puts the needs of pupils first. It encourages their social as well as academic development, and gives them an active role in the learning process.

Lessons designed around children

Several months into the new curriculum, Malawi's Standard One classrooms are alive with energy and creativity. Rooms are full and pupils are visibly interested. "I like what we do in our class now," says one girl from Dedza Government Primary School. "The teacher makes us do good things like singing and playing games together. I now like to go to school every day."

Lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic take their place alongside classes dealing with major social issues, such as how to prevent, and cope with, HIV and AIDS. Teachers focus on their pupils' learning needs, measuring what has been learnt as opposed to what has been taught. And lessons are designed to engage children, allowing them to learn through educational activities rather than by passively receiving facts.

"One significant improvement is that my child can translate what she does in school to the home environment," says the girl's mother. "I think the lessons are practical and pupils can relate to them in their everyday lives. I think this is very helpful in the learning process. My child discusses with me what happens in school every day."

Pupils feel at home in school

Schoolchildren in Malawi The aim of the curriculum is not just to help children pass exams - although literacy and numeracy are core targets - but to enable them to become effective citizens. "We are going through a very exciting and challenging time" says Keston Chilende, head teacher of Dedza. "My Standard One teachers all agree that the new curriculum provides enough activities that are good morally, culturally and academically”.

Attendance has already greatly improved. Pupils now do a full day at school, rather than going home at break time or not coming in at all, which often happened in the past. The teachers attribute this to the new, participatory lessons. Children are very eager to get involved in activities, competing for the opportunity to show their abilities in front of their classmates.

"Pupils feel at home in school because they can do the some things they normally do at home - dancing, playing and singing," reflects Alice Mpeketula, a Standard One teacher. "They especially love topics where they can relate to like weddings, birth and birthdays."

Getting teachers and parents on board

To put the new curriculum into action, teachers have been provided with special training. The Ministry of Education's programme sees that they receive tuition every two weeks over a four month period, attending Teacher Development Centres constructed by DFID. For many, this is their first real training since qualifying.

Over 11,000 teachers so far have passed through the DFID centres, leaving with stronger planning skills and a greater sense of accountability to their pupils. The training encourages them to take more pride in their teaching and to monitor more closely their pupils' behaviour and academic progress. With children now expected to be able to read and write by the time they start Standard Two, it is vital that teachers keep track of their development.

For the new curriculum to work, it is also essential that parents are supportive of the changes underway. To ensure this, school management boards have spoken to local communities, explaining the benefits of the new system and reducing scepticism towards it. Attitudes have changed, with communities more understanding of the importance of the teacher's role. They appreciate that a teacher's place is, first and foremost, in the classroom - which has reduced the pressure on teachers to attend funerals, a notable cause of absenteeism in Malawi.

As the curriculum continues to be rolled out, it is crucial that the positive changes observed at Dedza school are seen throughout the country. More teachers trained, a better quality of education, and more children staying on at school will mean a brighter future for Malawi.

Key facts

The new curriculum, which began in January 2007, is funded by DFID through its Education Sector Support Programme (ESSP). DFID funding to the programme is £4.5 million.

DFID helped provide 2.1 million new textbooks in 2006 in support of the new curriculum. It will provide an additional 8.4 million textbooks and teachers guides for Standards Two and Five in 2007. The roll-out of the curriculum to other classes will continue until 2010.

The Ministry of Education's teacher training package involves orientation to the new curriculum, followed by the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme. CPD training is done by Primary Education Advisers (PEAs) in DFID-constructed Teacher Development Centres.

To date a total of 11,664 Standard One government teachers and 2,454 Primary Education Advisers and District Education Managers have been trained. The training, which provides each teacher with three days CPD training per term, will continue until 2010. The Private School Association of Malawi in collaboration with the Ministry of Education provides training for teachers in private schools.

Enrolment rates in Malawi have increased by about 60% since the introduction of free primary school education 1994. Young people’s literacy has risen from 63% to 71%. The pupil to classroom ratio fell from 114:1 in 2000 to 85:1 in 2006.

Links