LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-DVV International has emphasised the need for stakeholders in the education, gender and social welfare sectors to work closely in implementing the launched Malawi’s National Adult Literacy and Education Strategic Plan (2022-2027).
DVV International Regional Director for Southern Africa Gerhard Quincke appealed during the launch of the National Adult Literacy and Education Strategic Plan (NALE-SP) on Thursday, November 30, 2023, in the capital Lilongwe.
Quincke observes that stakeholders’ collaboration is key in implementing the strategy to spur meaningful purposes for local community development.
“The strategic plan aims at bringing all stakeholders together and harnessing their efforts to, among other things, strengthen the policy and legal environment for implementation of Adult Literacy and Education (ALE) programmes.
“The strategy also aims at increasing inclusive and accessible literacy and enhancing skills development and education among adults for effective participation in personal, community and national development by 2027. Therefore, we call for total collaboration and commitment in the implementation of the strategy,” appeals Quincke.
Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Jean Sendeza however acknowledged short supply of teaching and learning materials for adult literacy in the country.
Sendeza observes that development continues hampering efforts to reach out to more adults with basic reading, writing and numeracy skills.
The Minister therefore said the launch of the National Adult Literacy and Education Strategy marks a significant milestone government commitment to advancing education and enlightenment among the youth and adults.
“The strategy provides lifelong learning and a direction to informal skills development for the literates and neo-literates in such areas as saloon, manicure, pedicure, barbering, tyre fitting, motorbike maintenance, tailoring, phone repairing, computer repairing, among others, to ensure self-reliance socially and economically.
“My Ministry is convinced that facilitating mind-set change and promoting self-reliance among community members ensures attainment of sustainable development at individual, community and national levels. I, therefore, urge all stakeholders to identify areas in the strategy which they will support, and report on progress annually until 2027. This will help us monitor the attainment of strategic objectives. It will also help us to take timely action where we are off-track or lagging behind, ” says Sendeza.
According to her, the last time some teaching and learning materials were procured using government resources was in 2012, when at least every literacy centre received a consignment of learning materials and very few of them are still available today for the literacy classes.
Malawi Government statistics show that illiteracy rate among women is at 35.2 percent and 19.4 percent among men in rural areas.
While in urban areas, 5.6 percent of men are illiterate compared to 10 percent of women.
