Education

By Shadreck Maoni: Old Mutual Malawi Limited through the Old Mutual (Blantyre) Foundation Trust has invested MK45.5 million to sponsor 45 students to undergo training in various professional programs at SOS Vocational Training Center in Lilongwe. The amount is catering for both tuition and examination fees to the underprivileged students particularly those who lost parental care where every student is assisted with an average of MK990,000 in the three years they will be at the college. The sponsorship falls under one of the Trust’s core focus areas that aim at promoting skills development. Speaking in an interview, chairperson of the Trust, Mr. Tawonga Manda said the sponsorship is a financial and capacity building support targeted towards accredited skills training programs fo...

By Shadreck Maoni: Airtel Malawi, one of the leading telecommunications companies in the country in partnership with 2 Wheels to School has on Wednesday donated bicycles and other learning materials to students at Mpherere Community Day Secondary School in Ntchisi district as one way of tryinng to promote education in the country. The donation is worth K6. 4 million. Speaking after the donation, Airtel Malawi Assistant Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Veronica Ngulube said Airtel Malawi is passionate about education and believes in championing education in the country. Apart from failing to settle tuition fees, some of the problems that were there before the donation were that of students traveling long distances to and from school and lack learning materials such as no...

By Patrick Ng'ambi: Malawi's popular afro soul singer, Faith Mussa was on Tuesday unveiled as brand ambassador for Unicaf University. In an interview, the singer said he was delighted to become the face of the university considering that he is a student at the university. "The ambassadorship deal is an exciting and a timely partnership for me since I am also a student at the university," Mussa said. He said it was a great opportunity for him to gain a globally recognized qualification while managing to advance his music career. "As a musician studying for MBA, I have been granted a scholarship as part of my package which is a welcome gesture," Mussa said. Unicaf University Vice Chancellor, Dr. Robert Ridley said the university decided to work with the singer because he wa...

By Esnath Kalawe: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), a United Nations (UN) Agency, has engaged teacher trainees from various institutions in the country to impart in them peace-building skills and knowledge on how to prevent violence in schools. The activity was conducted with the overall aim of enhancing capabilities in peace-building and prevention of violence in young teachers from different colleges. Speaking Thursday during the training in Lilongwe, Acting Deputy Executive Secretary for Malawi National Commission for UNESCO, David Mulera, said the training would aid the promotion of peace and curbing crimes which is within UNESCO’s mandate. “The idea is that teacher trainers and trainees should embrace principles of peace building an...

By Staff Writer: First Discount House (FDH) Managing Director Mike Chiwalo Thursday took time off his busy schedule to mentor students at Monkey Bay Community Day Secondary school in Mangochi. Chiwalo took time to encourage the students on the fruits of working hard and excelling in their studies saying the world now is looking for people with good qualifications. “There are good things t (more…)

By Chancy Namadzunda: National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has suspended the accreditation of the Diploma in Education and Bachelor of Education degree programs at DMI St John the Baptist University’s Mangochi campus with immediate effect after its failure to comply with minimum standards. According to a NCH Statement published in national dailies of Wednesday,   the University has been found wanting in the areas of student’s admission, staff complement, teaching practice and other academic procedures. The Council has further ordered that the University must not enroll any new student for the Diploma in Education and Bachelor of Education until all identified concerns are addressed and re-assessment is conducted to ensure that the minimum standards have been met and that D...

By Staff Writer: Beneficiaries of the Standard Bank and Press Trust joint scholarship scheme have commended the bank for its commitment to ease the financial and material burden they face to complete their education. Speaking at Likuni Boys Secondary School in Lilongwe where the bank presented the K30 million fund for this year, a representative of the secondary students Alex Chikwinde said the fund has is going a long way to increase access to affordable education for disadvantaged children. “With this fund, we are able to go to school with the confidence that we’ll not be withdrawn for the lack of tuition and boarding fees. It’s been a huge relief for most of us as we could not afford the fees and other needs such as stationery,” said Chikwinde. Director for Secondary Educati...

By Nellie Kapatuka: In a quest to promote and instill a reading culture among students, World Vision Malawi (WVM) Malawi Tuesday conducted a literacy fair where 21 Primary Schools from Nkhoma, Chowo and Mtenthera education zones in Lilongwe participated in a spelling bee competition. Speaking at the event, WVM District Programs Manager for Lilongwe district, Harold Munthali said the initiative was aimed at complimenting government’s efforts in increasing the country’s literacy levels which are significantly low. “Different studies including the one that was done by UNESCO shows that in the country only 65.75 percent of adults from 15 years and above are able to read and write, if you compare with our countries for example Britain which has 99 percent  literacy levels, you would no...

By Hawa Malishe: Creative Centre for Community Mobilization (CRECCOM) in partnership with Christian Blind Mission are set to launch a project called increased early Grade literacy through teacher/guardian empowerment  in Zomba which among others; aims at promoting early grade literacy of leaners with disabilities. The project also known as Tiwaphunzitse in Chichewa, is for a one year and would be implemented in Chimwalira and Ntonda educational zones of the district. Speaking during a District Executive Committee Meeting (DEC) Wednesday, CRECCOM Program Manager for Zomba, Linice Sanga said children with disabilities face numerous challenges in accessing equitable education. Sanga said apart from learning materials and infrastructure, many teachers lack capacity on how to manage...

By Vitumbiko Nyirenda: Member of parliament for Mangochi West Reuben Kanyama has asked government to consider teachers’ salaries if they want better education in Malawi. In his contribution to President Lazarus Chakwera’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), Kanyama said despites government’s efforts for good and quality education, the teachers who are key in the sector are being overlooked. “The leadership is talking about good education in Malawi while they do not consider teachers’ salaries and quality resources to help in the sector. Most people who are involved in politics were once teachers and they withdraw from teaching profession to politics since there is no enough money in teaching profession as he said the salary which teachers get per month is peanuts,” he said He a...