By Blackson Mkupatira

Chiradzulu, February 16, Mana: Ministry of Education has commended the Malawi Teacher Effectiveness Enhancement Project (MTEEP) for its positive impact on education quality in Chiradzulu district where the project is currently being implemented since 2021.

Speaking on Thursday during cash award ceremony of best-performing teachers under the project, the Director of the Directorate of Teaching Education and Development (DTED), Dr. Zizwa Msukuma, said MTEEP has registered significant improvements in learning outcomes across primary and secondary schools in the district since the project was introduced.

"We launched this project in collaboration with UNICEF to promote best practices here in Chiradzulu because learners were performing poorly and there was a high school drop-out rate.

“Now we have seen a lot of progress as both learning and teaching outcomes have improved and school drop-out rate has decreased," he said.

Msukuma expressed optimism that quality of education will continue to rise in the district as more teachers and communities show commitment to adopt effective practices through continuous professional development and community engagement.

"We have seen teachers that have performed well and are being recognised for their exceptional work and commitment which has led to improved quality of education in the district," he said.

On her part, UNICEF Education Specialist Milandu Mwale expressed satisfaction with how the project was being implemented and hailed the Ministry of Education, Chiradzulu District Council, and Chiradzulu Teacher Training College (TTC) for their collaboration in promoting quality education through capacity building of teachers, students, and lecturers.

Chiradzulu District Council Chief Education Officer Gertrude Maliko said MTEEP has built capacity of teachers and empowered them with the knowledge and skills to self-evaluate and identify areas requiring improvement for improved teaching and learning outcomes.

"Seeing positive impact of the project, the council has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chiradzulu TTC to ensure that the district continues to benefit even after the project phases out," she said, as best performing teachers carried home cash, ranging from K100,000 to K70,000.

Rose Makondesa, a special needs education teacher at Chiradzulu Secondary School, who was amongst the seven outstanding primary and secondary school teachers to be awarded at the ceremony, thanked government for recognising her hard work and dedication.

She said using the knowledge and skills she gained from the training, the teacher retained 25 students who dropped out of school because of school fees by lobbying for support on top of hiring a sign language interpreter, among others, to promote inclusiveness so that every child with physical or socio-economic challenges get involved in the learning process.

So far, over 2,000 teachers, 235 student teachers, and 40 lecturers have been trained by the Ministry of Education with support from UNICEF Switzerland in Chiradzulu under MTEEP.