Last week, Chair of the APPG Bambos Charalambous, joined by Rachel Gilmour MP, was in Malawi on a delegation led by Results UK to see how UK-supported programmes in foundational learning are shaping progress in the country.
The week kicked off with a meeting with the Minister of Education, Hon. Bright Msaka, where we heard how UK technical assistance and support through UK ODA have helped the country implement strong reforms in how numeracy and mathematics are taught, along with support with learning materials and teacher training.
The delegation then met with colleagues from the British High Commission to learn about the wider context of Malawi and the challenges it still faces. With only 13% of children ages 7-14 having foundational numeracy skills, we spoke with expert education advisors from FCDO, and learned how the UK has been working with the Malawian Ministry of Education to roll out the National Mathematics Curriculum Reform Programme (NMCRP). This programme supported the roll-out of workbooks to all 5,900 primary schools across the country, ensuring every child has a book of their own to learn and practice mathematics. The programme was independently evaluated and found to deliver the equivalent of an extra half-year of maths learning per child. It is now considered one of the most effective numeracy programmes on the African continent.
The delegation then travelled to schools in Lilongwe and Salima districts, where they observed early years mathematics classes, seeing the workbooks in action. The delegation also met with headteachers, teachers and local officials, including each district’s Member of Parliament. Despite the roll-out of a programme as effective as the NMCRP, the challenges in foundational learning for children in Malawi are still significant. With classrooms often having over 100 children in them, and not enough teachers being trained and retained, there is still progress to be made for sustainable foundational learning for children across Malawi.
The delegation also observed a pre-primary class (p-class), a programme being piloted by the Malawian Ministry of Education with support from UNICEF and Global Partnership for Education (GPE). The p-class aims to support children aged 4-5 to prepare for primary school, as a reception or kindergarten class does.
As we concluded our trip, Bambos Charalambous commented that he and Rachel Gilmour MP would be taking their observations back to the UK to continue advocating for investment in foundational learning. “One of the key things we will be taking back home with us as a result of observing foundational learning in Malawi is that there needs to be greater training of teachers for the primary years… there is a lot more that can be done, but Malawi is on the right road to making education better for Malawian children”.
Bambos Charalambous MP, Rachel Gilmour MP and Results UK would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to the fantastic team at British High Commission Malawi, the Malawi Ministry of Education and the wonderful schools, teachers and partners for welcoming us to Malawi.