Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) Principal Secretary Ken Ndala says early childhood development (ECD) provides crucial cognitive, social and better academic performance in children.
He made the sentiments yesterday in Zomba during the graduation of the first cohort of 20 graduates with a bachelor of early childhood development (ECD) degree, marking a step forward in strengthening pre-primary education in the country.
Ndala said the graduates are expected to play a key role in improving standards in early learning.
“ECD builds a foundation for long-term learning and success,” he said.
Two of the graduates, Esther Chipanda and Styled Katulunga, who both passed with credit, said their training covered areas such as child protection, hygiene, nutrition and social-emotional development.
Chipanda said apart from training caregivers, she wants to open her own ECD centre to help attain the Malawi 2063 development agenda.
“Grassroots levels education prepares children for action,” she said.
Unima Vice-Chancellor Professor Samson Sajidu urged the graduates to apply their skills to support the country’s economic and social development.
He advised the graduates to desist from any forms of corruption and instead invest their knowledge in hardworking.
“Malawi needs structured and productive graduates,” he said.
Meanwhile, Youth for Development and Productivity (Yodep) programmes manager Joy Mwandama described the graduation as a major ECD step forward.
He said the graduates are a direct answer to Malawi’s critical shortage of qualified ECD practitioners.
“This is crucial because many ECD centres currently rely on under-qualified staff, which compromises the quality of foundational learning for children,” said Mwandama.
In total, there were 1 767 graduates, 11 earned doctorate degrees, 201 received masters degrees, 1 229 received bachelor’s degrees, 26 received post graduate diplomas, 195 received post graduate certificates, 76 earned diplomas and 26 got certificates.
