By Imam Wali:
Early childhood education is critical in the formative years of a child. The ability to read and write, confidence gained when getting up and talking in front of others and socialising with peers are some of the skills best developed in the early years of a child’s learning.
As such, parents, who wish the best for their children are inclined to place them in a learning environment where they can fully develop these skills.
Moreover, early childhood education fosters essential skills such as problem-solving, creativity and critical thinking, which are vital in the modern world.
However, this is not usually the case for special needs children, especially those in rural communities.
Children with hearing impairments are disadvantaged in the education system right from the beginning; in this case, at Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres.
Seven-year-old boy Atuwemi Salim from Senior Chief Tambala in Dedza District can attest to this.
He was born with a hearing impairment, making it difficult for him communicate with caregivers and peers.
According to his mother Aisha Salim, Atuwemi was, by now, supposed to be in primary school, standard 2 to be precise, together with those he started schooling with at Mwayi Community Based Child Care Centre (CBCCC).
But, unfortunately, her child only goes to the ECD centre to socialise with other kids.
“My Child is deaf and does not speak properly, such that the best way to communicate with him is through signs.
“This makes it difficult for him to communicate with teachers and friends. Most of the time, he is isolated and I am not sure if, moving forward, the situation will improve. Still, I want a brighter future for my child,” she said.
The mother said if the child does not succeed with his education, it would affect him negatively, socio-economic development-wise.
Her caregiver, Josephine Mbewe, concurred with her, saying they face difficulties when teaching Atuwemi and other children with hearing impairment.
“This is because we lack knowledge on how to teach children with special needs. That is on our part.
“On the children’s part, it is challenging for them to grasp complex concepts and keep up with classmates. Special needs children in rural areas are really facing challenges in their quest to acquire an education,” Mbewe lamented.
She added that there is a need for government to include sign language in the caregiver training manual.
Alinafe Stambuli is another girl with hearing difficulties in Madzumbi Village, Traditional Authority Kasumbu, in Dedza District.
Her parents have given up on her, such that they recently withdrew her from the ECD centre in the area.
Her father Stambuli blames the education system, describing it as “incapable of meeting the teaching and learning needs of the deaf children”.
“Therefore, there is a need to adopt an inclusive approach so that ECD centres can be providing for the needs of deaf children as well as those with other challenges. Otherwise, children with special needs will continue to be given a raw deal,” Stambuli pointed out.
There is a huge gap, in terms of access to ECD services in the country, where the access rate stands at 55.6 percent, a situation that is even more precarious among children with special needs.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals priotise ECD under Education Goal 4.2, which states that “By 2030, all boys and girls [should] have access to quality early childhood development care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education”.
However, this seems to be a tall order in Malawi and unless there is an inclusive education policy in place, the full inclusion of deaf children at ECD level will continue to be a mirage, more so when viewed against failure to understand that inclusion is more than just the presence of deaf children in the classrooms; it is about giving them the opportunity to fully express themselves.
Chiefs Child Affairs Officer in the Ministry of Gender, Pauline Simwaka, without providing figures, said the ministry trained only a few sign language interpreters.
She, however, highlighted, that inadequate resources, unprofessionalism and lack of infrastructure remain major challenges in the provision of ECD services in the country.
“We are making some progress as, in terms of promoting access, we have moved from 49 percent in 2019 to 53 percent in 2024. In terms of financing, some development partners are showing interest in helping us produce positive outcomes in the ECD sector.
“However, with the level of investments we need, the resources are still very low for us to meet demand. Otherwise, we will be implementing the interventions as stipulated in the Malawi Implementation Plan-1 of the Malawi 2063 vision,” she said.
According to the National Policy on Early Childhood Development (NPECD), only 1,075,985 out of 2,552,406 children have access to ECD.
This is despite that the number of ECD centres has increased from 9,783 in 2019 to 16,025 in 2023.
There are 74,241 caregivers in the 13,295 public CBCCs and 10,920 caregivers in private CBCCs, out of whom only 28,937 are trained, representing 37 percent.
In terms of monetary rewards, only 2,051 caregivers were on the government payroll in 2023.
Poor infrastructure is one of the problems besetting the sector, a problem largely blamed on inadequate budgetary allocations and disbursements to the ECD sector.
Investment in the ECD sector remains low, such that it got K16.2 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year; K13.4 billion in the 2022-23 national budget; K12 billion in the 2021-22 year and K803 million in the 2020-21 fiscal year, figures experts have described as “inadequate”.
However, International guidelines recommend the allocation of a minimum of 10 percent of the national budget to the ECD sector.
Senior Assistant Social Welfare Officer in Dedza District, Benjamin Kapuchi, acknowledged the challenge that children with physical disabilities, in particular children with hearing impairments, face
“We have children with various forms of disability, in particular children with hearing impairments. The biggest problem is that most of the caregivers are not trained in how to use sign language to communicate with these children and, in most cases, most of the children ending up dropping out of ECD centres,” he said.
Kapuchi further said other major challenges facing ECD sector players in Dedza include those of inadequare infrastructure due to poor funding, shortage of caregivers, with most of them being volunteers.
Kapuchi added that sometimes children lack motivation because some ECD centres do not provide food to the children.
So, instead of the number of children increasing exponentially, this is not the case.
NPECD revealed that 39.2 percent of children aged between 36 and 57 months attended early childhood education nationaly in 2014.
Gender Minister Jean Sendeza said out of 32,000 registered community-based caregivers in the country, only 3,000 receive honorarium,further saying the authorities are considering the possibility of compensating these caregivers by putting them on the government payroll.
“Well-compensated caregivers are more likely to be motivated, dedicated and committed to providing young children with the best learning experiences,” she said.
Associate Professor at the University of Malawi, Elizabeth Kamchedzera, said children with hearing impairment do not benefit from their education because there is no one to sign for them as they are being taught, hence they are left behing in teaching, learning and assessment processes, a development that can be mitigated by deploying sign language educators so that the children can reach their potential in education.
Betty Wisiki, special needs and inclusive education expert concurred with him, adding that there is a huge need to train caregivers in sign language although it is costly.
“Knowing that the majority of the caregivers do not have knowledge on this language, the need for massive training will demand a lot of resources for this to be realized.
“However, the investment cannot outweigh the impact as uneducated citizens are a burden to the society and government. If well supported at a tender age, deaf children can grow up into responsible citizens who could contribute to the development of the country. The most cost effective way of training caregivers could be having a pool of facilitators trained and these could be deployed to centres where caregivers are trained and design short courses,” she said.
She added that lack of sign language interpreters and lack of educators who are fluent in this language has a negative impact on the education of deaf children.
“Sign language is like any other language and, if they are well nurtured, deaf children and their caregivers can be using it and the children can excel in their education. Depriving a deaf child of the opportunity to use sign language is akin to killing their potential to excel in education at all levels,” she said.
Educationist Leonard Sharra said the government needs to invest a lot more in children’s early years education
“The country has very few trained caregivers, and even fewer caregivers who know sign language. The result is that very few children with hearing impairments have access to the specialised kind of early childhood education that they need. The children are not receiving the education they need,” he said.
He added that it is important for the government to implement provisions of Malawi Implementation Plan-1 for every primary school to offer pre-school programmes, and to construct more ECD centres across the country.
“There are some very promising initiatives, for example educational technology, to address some of these problems. The use of tablets has the potential to help Malawi overcome some of the infrastructure challenges it faces,” Sharra said.
Sharra said the development philosophy for the country is inclusive wealth creation, which means that every Malawian must be provided with equal educational opportunities from early childhood to later years in life, saying that accords everyone a chance to be self-sufficient and, in turn, to do their part in contributing to the prosperity of everyone.
Malawi Council for Disability Affairs (MACODA), formerly Malawi Council for the Handicapped,
Public Relations Officer Harriet Kachimanga said deaf children often encounter significant obstacles due to the absence of trained special needs teachers, communication barriers and the lack of tailored support services such as use of pictures for lessons.
“Without access to teachers who are proficient in sign language, deaf children struggle to effectively communicate, participate in classrooms activities and fully engage with their peers. Additionally, the absence of resources specifically designed to meet the unique needs of deaf children further compounds these challenges.
“To alleviate these difficulties, it is important to prioritise the training and deployment of more special needs educators in ECDs. By ensuring that these educators are equipped to provide appropriate support and facilitate effective communication, deaf children can receive the inclusive and accessible education they require to thrive,” she said.
The purpose of NPECD is to provide and enhance a coordinated and comprehensive approach in the implementation of accessible, quality and equitable ECD services.
The M’mera M’poyamba National Strategic Plan (2023-2027) also stipulates that all children should learn in a healthy, safe and friendly environment.
That way, the education path of children with special needs will be paved.
