World Youth Skills Day – “Learning to Learn for Life and Work”

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Education

DAPP Malawi is today joining the government of Malawi and the global community in celebrating the World Youth Skills Day to raise awareness about the importance of Skills development.
DAPP Malawi through its Mikolongwe Vocational School contributes to the Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education in Malawi.
The school was established in 1997 to equip youth with technical and entrepreneurial skills for them to become self-reliant by starting up small scale businesses or be able to secure an employment.
The school offers 11 courses in formal and informal trainings which are Agriculture, Bricklaying, Carpentry & Joinery, Community Development, Financial Accounting, Textile & Fashion Designing, Beauty & Hairdressing, Renewable Energy & Electrical Installation, Plumbing & Wash Technician and Welding & Fabrication, Cobbler and Shoe Making.
Located in Mikolongwe, Traditional Authority Likoswe in Chiradzulu district, DAPP Mikolongwe has since 2016 extended its operations to reach out to more youth in rural and hard to reach areas.
With funding from Sympany of Netherlands, DAPP Malawi introduced Satellite Centres in its four Teachers Training Colleges of Chilangoma in Blantyre, Amalika in Thyolo, Dowa in Dowa and Mzimba in Mzimba districts to train adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Tailoring under an informal training for a period of four months.

Bricklaying Student At Mikolongwe Vocational School

Electrical And Renewable Energy Students At DAPP Mikolongwe School

Skills Training For Youth Welding And Fabrication Student

Electrical And Renewable Energy Students At DAPP Mikolongwe School

DAPP Amalika Celebrates New Teachers and Tailors

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Education

On 7 June 2019, DAPP Amalika Teachers Training College celebrated the completion of a three-year teaching profession training for 63 student teachers that had been trained at the school.
During the graduation which was attended by representatives from the Thyolo District Education Officer, the graduating teachers were awarded certificates of completion by the school while they, also, are awarded the Initial Primary Teacher Education certificate by the Malawi Nation Examinations Board (MANEB).

A cross section of new tailors trained at Amalika

A group photo from the graduation ceremonies

Education in times of emergencies

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Education

The devastating Cyclone Idai in Malawi left over 80,000 households displaced, losing property, homes while others lost their lives.

In response to the devastating effects of the floods that followed, the Malawi government, local organisations, individuals and the international community moved in to support and fast track the recovery from the natural disasters in various ways mainly through donating relief items.

Chisomo Ben teaching standard 4 learners

Ben teaching learners an a class that is taken under a tree

However, the floods did not only affect people at household levels but in school learners were also affected and traumatised. In response, an Education in Emergency program was introduced by the Education Cluster in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to among others offer psycho-socio support to children and community members that were affected.

DAPP Malawi through its four Teachers Training Colleges of Chilangoma, Amalika, Dowa and Mzimba has deployed 25 volunteer teachers in eight of the nine districts namely Mangochi, Balaka, Zomba, Phalombe, Mulanje, Thyolo, Chikwawa and Nsanje.

Through the District Education Managers Officer, the newly graduated teachers were allocated in various schools where they will be working for three months from June 2019.

Chisomo Ben is a volunteer teacher at Nyangu primary school, in Livunzu education zone, Chikwa district, who arrived at the school on 7 June 2019.

He said apart from teaching in classes he works with community members to encourage them to continue sending their children to school.

“We were trained to offer psycho socio support to families, this is to ensure that they do not create fear in their children who were traumatised, we promote water, sanitation and hygiene activities as well as engage in extracurricular activities for the learners and these are mainly sporting activitie,” he explained.

The head teacher for Nyangu school Mr Emmanuel Thonje applauded the Education in Emergency program for coming in as a relief to the school since two teachers had left the school after their houses got washed away by flooding water.

DAPP Malawi through its TTCs trains teachers who are not only groomed in their career but are also humanly prepared to become change agents in rural areas where they will be teaching by playing leading roles in community building efforts. 

To date, DAPP has trained over 2900 teachers in its four Teachers Training Colleges.

DAPP Malawi participates in Edukans 2019 World Teacher Event

Written by DAPP Malawi. Posted in Education

On the 10th of May, DAPP Malawi National Partnership Office (NPT) representatives attended an open event hosted by Edukans Foundation in collaboration with Education Expertise Development Foundation (EEDF) in Nathenje, Lilongwe district as part of their 2019 World Teacher Programme celebrations.

Teachers exchanging ideas

United for one cause

The three year exchange program between Dutch Teachers and School Leaders and Malawian counterparts aims at strengthening active teaching and learning methodology and improved school leadership for the promotion of quality Education in the Education sector which is part of Edukans STAR Programme which promotes quality teaching and learning processes.

The 2019 World Teacher event involved teachers from Malawi and the Netherlands showcasing the knowledge and skills they have exchanged. Present at the event was representatives from Education Expertise Development Foundation, Teachers Union of Malawi, Girls Education Network (GENET) and Malawi Government officials.

Encouraging the teachers, Director of Basic Education in Malawi Mr Kosamu Mafuta said “As teachers, you need ensure that you are facilitating learning from your leaners for effective outcome”.

Edukans Foundation has been supporting education activities in Malawi since 2006 and contributes towards the training and educating of young people.