By Zenak Matekenya

Dedza, November 23, Mana: Primary school head teachers in Dedza have praised the Malawi Education Reform Program (MERP) for transforming learning environments for learners.

Speaking Friday when officials from Ministry of Education toured the district to appreciate progress, Kapalamula Primary School Head Teacher Tabitha Sukasuka said the training she underwent through MERP has transformed her leadership skills.

She said together with her deputy they ably motivate teachers by appreciating their work, work closely with community and reduce school dropout.

“Some learners had dropped out due to school fees. The school committee had agreed to support such learners with school uniform using School Improvement Grant. Over 20 learners have benefited so far,” she said.

She also hailed MERP’s construction of a two classroom block at the school which has an enrolment of about 1,600 learners coming to school in shifts due to lack of adequate classroom space.

Milonde 1 Primary School Head Teacher, Godfrey Kulemeka, said before the training he had little knowledge on administrative issues like capturing and keeping records.

“For instance, previously we did not capture learners with physical disabilities and other difficulties in the learning process.

“However, following the training we know how best to identify these learners and incorporate them in the lessons and other school activities so that we move together,” he said.

Secretary for Education, Mangani Katundu, said the ministry is working tirelessly to improve speed at which the project is being implemented to surpass targets for its deliverable on school leadership training and building classroom blocks.

“Out of 10,200 teachers that we were supposed to train by the end of the program next year, I am happy to report that over 10,300 have been trained,” he said.

He expressed satisfaction with retention at Kapalamula Primary School where from the beginning of this term all learners are coming to school.

He said progress on construction of the classroom block at the institution, which started on September 29, 2024, is almost complete noting things are going the right direction.

He said change in procurement process now requires schools to buy constriction materials in groups as opposed to individual schools thereby acquiring higher quality material at reduced cost, as schools are now able to buy direct from the factories.

Deputy Director for the Department of Teacher Education and Development, Rose Kalizang’oma, said the project involved development of modules, which looked into documentation of all school activities, inclusive culture, climate change and supervision of projects.

She said the training sessions, which commenced in 2022 run for 10 days yielding 17 batches of trainees to date.

She added that besides head teachers, the training sessions also targeted female section heads adding that those teachers who benefited from Malawi Education Sector Improvement Project are left out.

She observed that a few schools have lagged behind in implementation of the knowledge gained and that plans are underway to fix the challenge from January next year.

“Some schools need more knowledge on implementation of their plan to be in line with their mission and goal. The other thing is acknowledging of low performing students and the gifted ones. So we want to hit hard on that,” she said.