World Vision dares caregivers
World Vision Malawi (WVM) has challenged 65 caregivers from Machinga District who underwent two weeks training in Blantyre to use the skills in shaping the future of children.
WVM Machinga education development facilitator Kelvin Chilala made the call on Friday during graduation of the caregivers in Blantyre.
what she learned during the training
He said: “We conducted the training of caregivers from traditional authorities [T/As] Chamba and Mposa after realising that they were teaching in early childhood development [ECD] centres without prerequisite knowledge.
“So, the training has closed the skills gap. We, therefore, expect them to impart the right skills to learners before joining primary schools.”
Machinga District assistant social welfare officer Fred Banda commended WVM for the training, saying the district has few caregivers.
“Machinga has 53 000 children in ECD centres. The 65, therefore, will minimise the gap,” he said.
Association of Early Childhood Development in Malawi executive director Archie Willie Malisita also commended WVM for assisting governmebt in training caregivers in the country.
“This is commendable. I wish other organisations could emulate WVM in training more caregivers. Malawi has about 4.5 million children who require ECD services, but so far, we are able to reach 36 percent of the children as the country has 37 000 caregivers from which 17 000 underwent training,” he said.
One of the caregivers, Bertha Wyson, who teaches at Chikondi Community-Based Childcare Centre in T/A Chamba, said the training had equipped her with knowledge on how to handle children with disabilities.
The caregivers also learned how to make teaching materials using locally-available resources. Each of them received a certificate of attendance.
WVM spent K13.1 million for the training.
