By Linda Kwanjana
Secretary for the Ministry for Education, Associate Professor Mangani Chilala Katundu has commended Malawi
Education Reforms Program (MERP) for the great achievements registered.
Katundu was speaking in Dedza when he toured Kapalamula , Kampini and Milonde primary schools in Dedza on Friday.
Speaking during the tour the Secretary said MERP programme has helped to train teachers on a number of leadership skills and directly influenced the outcomes.
He said MERP has also trained teachers to project management so that they are able to manage projects professionally.
For example the secretary said projects which were taking ages to complete are now being completed within a short period of time, giving an example of a school block that has been erected in six weeks only at Kapalamula.
He says through the program the Ministry has trained contractors across the country with support from the National Construction Industry Council (NCIC).
“This has helped to bring quality of work being done by these projects. Again schools are now buying the building materials jointly hence having access to buy directly from manufacturers.
FOR THE STARTERS
MERP is funded by the Malawi Government, World Bank and Global Partnership for Education (GPE) aimed at improving learning environments for students in lower primary in government schools.
The project comprises of six components. The first component is aimed at expanding and reforming primary school improvement grants (PSIG) which supports the expansion and reform of PSIG, being a primary source of discretionary finance to schools.
The second component,is to improve learning environments in lower primary to support learning recovery after Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) will provide finance targeted to schools with exceptional need (MERP SIG), to support construction of low-cost classrooms and latrines, and hiring of auxiliary teachers.
The third component of MERP is to support girls’ learning environment by among other supporting female learners and improving the numbers of female teachers in schools in remote areas.
The fourth component, is on school leadership program (SLP) which supports the national delivery of an updated SLP supporting head teachers, deputy head teachers, Primary Education Adviser (PEAs), inspectors, and selected female section heads.
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