By Patience Kapinda

Lilongwe, July 10, MANA: Forum for African Women Educationalists Malawi (FAWEMA) has launched an online Gender Responsive Pedagogy (GRP) platform, aimed at promoting gender equality in education.

The new online platform is a significant milestone in FAWEMA's efforts to address gender disparities in education.

By providing gender-responsive teaching methods and materials, the platform will help create a more inclusive learning environment for both girls and boys.

Speaking at a review meeting for the GRP project in Mponela on Wednesday, Dr. Margaret Madimbo, Chairperson of the FAWEMA Board, emphasized the importance of gender-responsive teaching methods.

"We work with teachers and the community to sensitize everyone to be involved. The review meeting is to bring stake-holders together and look at the work they have been doing, and we're also launching an online GRP2," she said.

The online platform will reach a wider audience, including teachers in distant locations. "We have trained lecturers in Teacher Training Colleges (TTC), and we are working with six key districts. We've also trained teachers who, in turn, train others, like School's Parent Teacher Associations and school management committees," Dr. Madimbo added.

Executive Director of FAWEMA, Wesley Chabwera, highlighted the background of the GRP project. "Research in the early 90s showed that girls were lagging behind due to gender-biased language, teaching materials, and classroom management. We developed GRP2 to address these issues and build capacity for teachers to provide equal opportunities for both girls and boys," he explained.

Noria Mchingula, Principal Officer and Director of E-learning at the Ministry of Education, hailed the project for improving education.

FAWEMA's implementation of GRP has helped us learn skills on gender-responsive pedagogy. We're happy to see the digitalization of this tool, which aligns with our goal of making Malawi's education system more resilient," she said.

Jonathan Koboni, Head teacher of Kayoyo Community Secondary School Ntchisi, testified to the impact of GRP2. "The trainers have reached a lot of people in secondary and primary schools, and we have managed to reach out to community leaders, PTA members, and mother groups."

He said that teachers are giving positive feedback from their interaction with students.

The project, funded by the Mastercard Foundation, aims to support marginalized learners and provide bridging opportunities for tertiary education.

FAWEMA has trained over 1,500 teachers and lecturers in GRP, and the online platform is expected to increase access and reach even more educators.