A day in the life of a head teacher in Malawi
In this update, I'll be handing you over to my friend and head teacher of a primary school in Malawi. He tells me how, thanks to you, the educational tablets have made a life-changing difference to the children in his school.
May's featured volunteer
Moni onse! I’m Theonas Kalumika, VSO Education Specialist in Malawi, and I’ll be taking you forward on your Sponsor a Volunteer journey. Read on to find out how, with your support, we’re giving children here the education they deserve.
In Malawi, poor learning conditions and a lack of resources have created barriers to children’s education.
Over two thirds of students don’t finish primary school and those that do often lack the skills needed to thrive as older children and adults. Many primary schools have classes full of hundreds of students but only one teacher, meaning many children get left behind in their education, and eventually drop out altogether.
By supporting children with educational tablets, they're taking huge leaps in their learning. I was very excited when I heard about the work VSO is doing in schools in Malawi, and ever since I started volunteering I've been able to share my knowledge with everyone here. I can't wait to update you on how our work here in Malawi is going, and how your support is helping change children's lives.
May '24 volunteer update
Things are quite tough here in Malawi right now. You may have already heard, but our currency, the Malawian kwacha, has significantly gone down in value. It means that essentials like groceries and fuel have shot up in cost. It’s been quite worrying not knowing what might happen from one week to the next, but we’re all trying to keep positive. I’ve heard that the UK has been experiencing its own cost of living crisis at the moment, so I hope you’re all doing ok too.
I’m finding a lot of hope through the work we’re doing here. We’re continuing to provide more and more schools with the educational tablets – VSO is working in 181 more schools in Malawi this year. It’s been amazing to know that I’m part of such life-changing work.
Theonas Kalumika
I spoke to one of the teachers I work with who told me about one boy called Emmanuel*. Emmanuel is deaf, and was struggling to learn in a class of hundreds of other students and only one teacher. It’s impossible to get one-on-one support when the teacher has so many other students to teach. Recently, Emmanuel’s school has been given educational tablets to use every day, and his teacher tells me his learning has greatly improved. Being able to focus and learn at his own pace means he now knows how to read, write and count. I’m so proud of this work, and your support is helping children like Emmanuel build a better future for themselves.
I also want to share an update from Artwel, a primary school head teacher I work with. He knows all too well about the impact the lack of resources can have on children’s education…
VSO/Halifax Trading
Hear from Artwel
I’m Artwel, a head teacher at a primary school in rural Malawi. Theonas and I work in the same school, and we both share a huge amount of experience in education. I’ve been a teacher for 23 years now, and have been leading this primary school for seven years.
When I was a child, I was lucky enough to go to school, and I’m very proud of my hard work to get through my education, as it wasn’t easy. I believe it’s made me the person I am today. I see a lot of similarities between my experience at school and the experience my students have today. We sat on the floor as there was no room for desks and chairs. Sometimes we went outside to learn under the shade of a tree because it was more pleasant than the classroom. There was also a problem with parents not understanding the benefit of education back then, so if a child didn’t want to stay at school due to the poor conditions, they were not pushed to continue. I knew some students in my class who didn’t stay in school for long.
I was lucky enough to have foster parents who encouraged me to continue with my education after primary school, and I was one of few children in my area who attended secondary school. It was there I found my passion for education, and I knew I wanted to teach.
VSO/Halifax Trading
Past and present challenges
I’ve been working as a head teacher for seven years now, and I see that the same challenges I faced as a child are still affecting children here every day. Lack of teachers and resources is definitely one of the biggest issues I face in running the school, and it has a damaging impact on children’s education. Before the educational tablets came, some teachers would tell me that they couldn't teach properly because they were lacking basic materials, like textbooks or teaching aids. How could children possibly learn without these?
Overcrowded classrooms are also a big issue, as they were when I was young. Currently, our average student to teacher ratio is 100:1, but there are classes in this school that include over 200 students to one teacher. More teachers are needed to lessen the load, but Malawi currently has a shortage of job opportunities for trained teachers – the government doesn’t have the money to pay them. Poor learning conditions, lack of teachers and resources all lead to children dropping out of school and not getting the education they need for their futures. This leads to an increase in illiteracy, lack of job opportunities and a life in poverty.
VSO/Halifax Trading
The educational tablet that’s unlocking children’s potential
Since the educational tablets have come to our school, I’m very pleased to say I’ve seen incredible improvements in the students, and they’re now coming to school every day. Students have gone from counting to 10 to adding large numbers, and from reading small words to reading short stories. Reading scores of children using the tablets are 100% higher than those who aren’t using them[1] - these tablets are changing lives. They boost learning, educate children and help lessen the load for the teachers. Over time, more teachers will eventually enter the workplace and this problem will lessen. The tablets are acting as the children's digital teacher in the meantime.
Working with Theonas and VSO has been a wonderful experience. When he visits the school, he comes to see me in the morning to plan out the day. He helps me understand where the children need more help, where I can support my staff, and he also helps the teachers and children when they need support using the tablets. I’ve also learned how to use the tablets myself thanks to Theonas! The knowledge he is sharing with us will make long-lasting change here.
Thank you
I just want to say thank you to all of you who are supporting us in Malawi. You are helping children get the education they deserve. We’ve seen what the educational tablets can do – they work. I wish that we had such technology in my school when I was a child, maybe the situation would be different now for some of my classmates who dropped out.
Your generosity is ensuring more educational tablets will reach more schools across Malawi, changing children’s lives for the better. Thank you for your support.
Best wishes,
Artwel Jowampingo
Primary school head teacher, Malawi
P.S. Remember, you can ask a question or leave us a message below. We’d really love to hear from you.
*Pseudonyms are being used to protect identities.
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Your latest questions answered
It’s good to hear about the use of iPads and tablets to improve primary school learning. These early stages where children learn to read and write and do maths are so important.
Theonas
Indeed there are more problems here which cannot be listed despite the great need to make the children acquire the basics of education. The huge classes lead to issues of class management as you might have overheard on the video clip. Here classes with seats are sometimes available for senior classes only like grade 6-8, but in some schools only grade 8 enjoys them. Noel, let me encourage you to keep on supporting VSO with your finances otherwise it is through your support that most children have accessed digital learning. We appreciate your heart.
if children aged 7-9 are attending the Learning Centre in groups of 30, does that mean that each child in those year groups gets sessions? If not, how do teachers decide which children will attend?
Theonas
As for groups of learners attending sessions in the Learning Centre, take note that all learners are grouped in groups of 30 or 40 learners and each group is given an equal chance through the use of a timetable, this is where we appreciate and encourage you to continue supporting VSO so that more iPads or tablets are bought to allow more learners to attend a digital class at once. With these small groups of 30/40 learners, it is difficult and time consuming where a school has 300 learners plus because the learners will have a chance of attending one session only per week.
Did the children in the 'normal' classroom need encouragement to make it sound so noisy? I imagine not! And it makes a great contrast with the Learning Centre.
Theonas
What I know is that the noise is not by design it's a class management issue where the learners have been left uncontrolled for too long despite being a large class and they are are used to making noise otherwise learners were supposed to be quiet in class. Of course with inclusive education that Malawi is practising, some learners with learning disabilities especially those with mental problems and unsettledness could be some of these noise makers but the noise is on the higher side. .Alison, this where you will see that managing a class in highly enrolled schools is a challenge here in Malawi, one teacher against 100 + learners as opposed there where you have a teacher, assistant teacher and a volunteer to manage a class of 30. However, you can see that the quietness in the learning centre provides for a good environment for concentration and focus to most learners. This is because the number of learners in the group is small and that as we support the schools in the project we emphasise that learners should raise hands if they have issues and need support of some kind.
Did you know?
We bring about lasting change not by sending aid, but by working through volunteers to empower communities in some of the world’s poorest regions. You can read more about VSO’s areas of work and discover more about our projects here.
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