Context
Germany has been supporting the education sector in Malawi since the mid-1990s. Despite the considerable progress already made, major challenges remain if regional and international standards are to be met. Inadequate performance in primary schools can be attributed to a number of factors: as there are insufficient training and guidance for teachers, too many pupils per class (78 pupils on average), not enough classrooms. The high number of children who have to repeat a class or who drop out early do reflect insufficient framework conditions of teaching and learning and lead into an insufficient use of restricted education funds. Education management is centralized; however, the first important steps towards decentralization have been taken in recent years. Further steps towards reform, combined with the continuous strengthening of human and institutional resources and the performance capacity of the education sector, are required, in order to improve quality of education in Malawi.
Objective
The quality of primary school teaching is improved.
Approach
The project advises the Malawian Government on developing and, above all, implementing education policy strategies for the improvement of quality of education. Earlier phases focused on consultancy on sectoral management, the development of decentralisation guidelines and teacher training, and on developing and institutionalising an out-of-school basic education programme for the reintegration of school drop-outs into the formal school system.
There are currently four areas of activity:
1.Improving the general conditions for teaching staff at primary schools and teacher training facilities: as part of the decentralisation processes in the education sector, the project advises the relevant departments of the Ministry of Education and their agencies at local level. To improve conditions for teaching staff, special emphasis is placed on supporting the transfer of responsibility for teacher management to local school authorities. The project also works with the finance departments responsible to ensure reliable payment flows, especially of salaries at teacher training facilities.
2.To promote the effectiveness of primary teacher training, the project offers support and advice on restructuring the curriculum for the first year of teacher training. Special training at teacher training facilities helps to put the revised curriculum – and thus better teaching and learning methods – into practice. The project plans to continue working with the Ministry of Education to agree on and implement important reforms, such as the development of a differentiated selection procedure for student teachers.
3.To promote the continuing professional development of qualified primary school teachers, the project advises the Ministry of Education on designing, conducting and institutionalizing in-service training measures. This area of activity is being handled by a consulting firm on behalf of GIZ.
4.To improve the relevance and quality of the curriculum, a review of the primary school curriculum and of selected teaching and learning aids is being conducted. The development workers assigned to the project offer management consultancy and training for teachers at teacher training facilities.
Results
As part of the advisory services already provided to improve the two-year teacher training course, a structured training programme, with supporting material and mentoring, has been introduced for the second, practical year of training, which is conducted in schools. Around 9,000 students have already successfully completed their teacher training under the new programme.
The project also supported the development of the decentralisation guidelines for education management.
The approach to giving children without access to formal schooling a chance to catch up on their basic education has now helped several thousand children gain the qualifications they need to progress to a higher class in the formal school system. The success of this pilot project has led to the launching of a nationwide programme which has been incorporated into the national education plans.