Germany hands over hostels to Malawi
The German Government on Wednesday handed over to Government of Malawi newly constructed and refurbished hostels at Kasungu Teachers Training College (TTC).
Speaking during the ceremony in the district, Germany Ambassador Peter Woeste said through the Primary Schools Education Programme (PSEP) initiative, government is improving physical infrastructure in the primary school sector, thereby contributing to quality education.
“Germany is involved in three sectors in Malawi which are health, decentralisation and education. Through the PSEP, we aim to raise the number of graduating students by 800 per annum. This will be achieved by extending and improving the infrastructure of the TTCs to allow regular and sustainable teaching.
“With about K450 million [about $1.5 million], we have constructed five hostel blocks for 150 students. We have also rehabilitated some of the existing hostels. We also rehabilitated the whole college with the same money.
“We believe that a good teacher makes good education and so, we shall strive to help the Government of Malawi through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to reduce the teacher-pupil ratio from the current 1: 92 to the required 1: 40,†said Woeste.
He said the country’s education sector is set to improve with the establishment of an education basket for Malawi.
Principal Secretary responsible for Higher Education Dr. MacPhail Magwira called for more resources towards the improvement of teachers training colleges.
“The expansion [of the college] is a good development towards the improvement of Malawi’s primary education. However, the expansion did not cater for [other amenities such as] kitchen, library which currently have limited space against the increased number of students,†he said.
Germany has pumped in 7.2 million euros (about K2.88 billion) for the third phase of the PSEP running from 2005 to 2012, focusing on rehabilitation and extension of five teacher training colleges.
