HCA Partners with Malawi Ministry of Education to Boost Foundational Learning

Malawi-The Human Capital Africa Educational Alliance (HCA), a non-governmental organization dedicated to enhancing education quality for African children, has joined forces with the Ministry of Education to support the development of foundational learning and numeracy in Malawi, writes Mphatso Nkuonera.

During a school inspection exercise with senior officials from the Ministry of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, President and Founder of Human Capital Africa, praised the Minister of Education’s commitment to improving fundamental learning and numeracy.

She stressed that enhancing foundational literacy requires leadership, discipline, and accountability from all education leaders and a supportive environment.

Ezekwesili emphasized the importance of empowering teachers to correct weaknesses in foundational levels of education.

She explained that well-trained teachers who know how to teach, receive feedback, assess whether children are learning, and correct mistakes can improve both literacy and numeracy outcomes.

The Deputy Head Teacher for Chinsapo Primary School in Lilongwe commended the Ministry of Education and its partners for prioritizing foundational learning and numeracy.

She urged parents to encourage their children to embrace education and called for the orientation and training of teachers to ensure they can provide the right materials and lessons to their students.

During the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Africa, Madalitso Kambawuwa Wirima, Minister of Education, highlighted that the MOU cements the support that HCA is providing to the Ministry of Education.

She noted that currently, only 10% of children aged 10 and below on the continent can read with comprehension and do basic numeracy, highlighting the need for tools that can help improve learning outcomes.

Following the signing of the MOU, the ministry invited its development partners to a roundtable discussion on implementing the Human Capital Score Card to improve foundational literacy and numeracy in Malawi.

This development comes just two days after the Ministry launched the first-ever Complementary Basic Education (CBE) at the Capital Sunbird Hotel in Lilongwe.