Germany, Canada donate to Malawi

The development arms of the Canadian and German governments have donated nine vehicles and learning equipment to Malawi’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

The Canadian International Development Agency (Cida) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) donated the items worth K460 million (about $1.8 million) which will be distributed in the country’s six teachers training colleges (TTC), Maneb and the Malawi Institute of Education.
Speaking during the handover ceremony of one of the cars to Lilongwe Teachers Training College, GIZ Basic Education team leader Jurgen Buchholz said the ceremony represented a sequenced handover of several items.

“We will donate nine cars in total plus other learning materials. For the TCC, the vehicle will help in the Initial Primary Teacher Education programme where primary school teaching trainees go into the field during the second year of their studies. However, it was difficult to supervise the students during this time; hence, the donation”, said Buchholz.

“Among the other equipment, we will donate teaching and learning materials, guides and manuals for each teacher practice schools and will remain the property of the TCC,” he added.

Minister of Education, Science and Technology Eunice Kazembe said the problems that TTCs in the country were facing in an as far as supervision of trainee teachers is concerned are now over.

“Primary school teachers undergo a two-year training where students spend their second year in the field. These students need constant supervision and the coming of the car will help the country TCCs and in return improve the quality of education standards,” said Kazembe.

The complete value of the support provided by the governments of Canada and Germany to the Initial Primary Teacher Education programme in the years 2011 to 2014 amounts to approximately 5.5 million Euros which is more than K1.8 billion.

Of this, the Canadian government carries the lion’s share of approximately 4.5 million Euros worth of donations.