‘Caregivers training to enhance output’

Director of Child Affairs in the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare Hycith Kulemeka has said training of child caregivers can enhance output in Early Childhood Development (ECD).

Kulemeka was speaking in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre, on Friday during a press briefing to advocate for quality ECD training in the country.

“Government is aware that the kind of training offered leaves a lot to be desired and there is a need to come up with a strategic set-up for comprehensive training for the caregivers,” said Kulemeka

Association of Early Childhood Development in Malawi (AECDM) official Charles Gwengwe said there is need to allocate more funding towards ECD in the national budget.

“Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare is the focal ministry in the advocacy of ECD and as such, it should be fully-funded.

“There is also need for the government to allocate resources to the ministry to build and strengthen its capacity,” said Gwengwe.

He said people should not wait until children are five or six to put them in school because by that age, their brain has already started developing.

The Nation’s investigations recently revealed that some people in Lilongwe were not following recommendations in providing training to caregivers.