By Kandani Ngwira, contributor:
Two young girls, aged three and four, impressed the audience at the launch of World Vision Malawi’s School Feeding Support Programme for community-based childcare centres (CBCCs), which run nursery schools known as Mmera Mpoyamba in the local language.
The girls confidently recited the alphabet, demonstrating both their academic progress and the effectiveness of the early childhood development (ECD) programme in preparing children for primary school.
Their performance was a clear indication of how ECD provides a solid foundation to help children reach key cognitive and emotional milestones, enabling them to transition from nursery to primary school successfully.
The two girls go to Chitekesa CBCC in Thundu Area Programme in Phalombe. Their teacher, Patrick Liphale, explained that hunger is a big barrier to learning.
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“When we opened the nursery this school season, we registered 82 children but only 45 attend regularly because of hunger.
“We rely on food provided by parents, but due to El Niño, many parents no longer have enough to feed their children, which has led to a high rate of absenteeism,” Liphale said.
To prevent the closure of these schools due to food shortages caused by El Niño, World Vision Malawi has donated bags of Likuni Phala, valued at K300 million, to support the CBCC school feeding programmes.
Francis Dube, World Vision’s Country Director, explained that the aim of the donation is to ensure children receive adequate food with the right nutritional value, while also encouraging school attendance.
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“We want to support the government in laying a strong foundation for children in Malawi, particularly in the face of hunger.
“This donation is part of our response to the hunger crisis caused by El Niño. It will benefit around 5,097 children across three programme areas in Phalombe and Mulanje districts for a period of three months. In total, 138 CBCCs will receive this support,” Dube said.
Acting Director of Child Affairs in the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Justin Hamela, who was the guest of honour at the launch, praised the timing of the donation.
Gamela added that hunger has severely impacted community-based nursery schools, with some having to close.
He said recent studies show that there are 13,295 CBCCs running ECD centres, but only 40 percent remain operational during the lean period between October and January, due to hunger.
“This has had a negative impact on ECD programmes. Currently, Malawi is lagging behind in terms of ECD outcomes.
“A recent survey found that only 17 percent of children in Malawi reach the necessary cognitive and emotional developmental milestones to be ready for primary school,” Gamela said.
He then thanked World Vision Malawi for the donation, saying it would not only help prevent the closure of Mmera Mpoyamba schools but also encourage more children to attend.
Another challenge facing Mmera Mpoyamba schools is that many of the teachers and caregivers are not on the government payroll, which leads to demotivation.
“There are 49,000 caregivers working in CBCCs across the country but only a small percentage are employed by the government.
“The majority are volunteers, which is not ideal. The government is working to find ways to compensate these volunteers, who are doing an excellent job,” he said.
Magrete Pelusi, a mother with a child nearly two years old, expressed hope that more children would enrol now that there was enough food.
“Children love going to school when there is food. They wake up early, ask to be bathed and eagerly look forward to school and porridge. But when there is no food, they don’t want to go,” she said.
