Malawi receives K7.5bn education grant
Malawi has received K7.5 billion from Global Partnership for Education (GPE) to support the Covid-19 education response for the next two years.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the grant is expected to assist seven million school-age children whose education was disrupted due to coronavirus after the closure of schools in March 2020.
Reads the statement in part: “The grant aims to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on education by minimising the loss of learning and supporting the recovery of the education system.”
Minister of Education, Science and Technology William Susuwele Banda has since described the support as a great opportunity for the children.
He said: “Government appreciates the support as it would help keep children learning while at home during the pandemic.”
The ministry, with support from United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), will oversee the overall coordination and implementation of the project, including ensuring timely reporting on progress of activities to the GPE Secretariat.
Unicef Malawi representative Rudolf Schwenk said the impact of the pandemic on children was immediate and if unaddressed, may have implications throughout their lives.
He said: “An entire generation of students could suffer damage to their learning potential. This grant is timely and will contribute to ensuring a whole generation of children and young people are not left behind in Malawi.”
Schwenk added that redoubling commitments to education and investments in it has never been more urgent.
