Malawi to host Sadc education workshop
Malawi is scheduled to host the sixth regional workshop on the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Programme of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) countries in November this year.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Ministry of Education said additionally, the nation will also host the Inaugural Forum on the Regional Innovation and Technology Support Programme by May 2024.
This transpired at the end of the Sadc Joint Meeting of Ministers responsible for Education and Training and Science, Technology and Innovation (ET-STI) which took place from June 20 to 30 2023 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Commenting on the meeting, Minister of Education Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima said Malawi is on track in implementation of Sadc education strategies that critically support the education sector’s goal of increasing equitable access to quality education to support the country’s industrialisation agenda.
She said at national level, the regional strategies will help Malawi achieve the deliverables outlined in both the MW2063 MIP-1 (2021-2030) and the National Education Sector Investment Plan (NESIP, 2020-2030).
“These Sadc interventions are strategically linked to Malawi’s vision of creating an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation. These efforts are aimed at facilitating acquisition of new knowledge by teachers and learners; increasing school enrolment of underserved populations, and supporting teaching and learning through investments in physical and digital infrastructure,” said the minister.
According to Wirima, the meeting also re-emphasised the importance of prioritising Human Capital Development as key to the sustainable socio-economic development of the Region.
She said Malawi has, through the Directorate of Open Distance and e-Learning, digitalised 60 percent of secondary school curriculum and has facilitated the zero-rating of education sites to enable greater access to learning opportunities.
On his part, the ministry’s director of Science, Technology and Innovation Associate Professor Chomora Mikeka said the Sadc Digital Transformation Strategy will help to facilitate the acceleration of the Ministry’s Connect a School Programme through which the Ministry is digitising teaching and learning processes by establishing smart classrooms equipped with new technologies and virtual laboratories.
