Andiamo trains caregivers in Balaka
By Chikondi Laisi
Andiamo Youth Cooperative Trust (AYCT) has said the training of 15 caregivers marks the new beginning in the field of early childhood development and education.
AYCT deputy director, Alessandro Marchetti said this on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at the graduation of the caregivers the institution trained which took place at Saint Monica Nursery School in Balaka.
Officials and caregivers pose for a photo (Photo Credit: MML)
Marchetti said the 15 caregivers were well trained by AYCT with assistance from Needed Actions for Community Care and Development (NACC). He said the aim of the training was to give the caregivers a proper guidance for early childhood development before they start teaching in nursery schools.
“It is important to train the caregivers before they start teaching in nursery schools. We see this training as very key in childhood development and education. It will go a long way in shaping the future of children. Another important factor is that we realized that most of the caregivers did not have professional qualifications that would enable them teach in these schools.
“We are grateful to our partners NACC for the assistance rendered for facilitation of this training. Our hope is to train more caregivers in future so that childhood development and education meets set standards. We are supporting early childhood trainings as it urges early education for children. The trained caregivers have learned new skills on how they can teach little children,” Marchetti said.
Marchetti: We are committed to the cause (Photo Credit: MML)
He added that education is one of AYCT pillars and that the institution is operating and helping in improving tertiary, secondary and nursery school education.
Marchetti said: “We believe that education is essentially easy at this age and we do this to make sure that we build their brighter future at a young age. That is why we upgraded the teachers to be well certified.”
Justin Hamera, director of child affairs in the Ministry of Gender said there are over 49,000 caregivers in Malawi and half of these are not trained, which is cause for concern.
Hamera: We thank AYCT for the training (Photo Credit: MML)
“We have over 49,000 caregivers in the country half of these are yet to get any formal training. We are grateful to organizations such as Andiamo Youth Cooperative Trust who are helping in training caregivers. This means that as government, our goal is being properly met,” Hamera said
Hamera explained that when children start learning from nursery school, they avoid repetition of classes at primary school level.
“Nursery school is where we develop a child when he or she is young; and at this stage it is where children are taught good manners and to be obedient. Teachers must therefore, join hands with parents to make their work easier,” he said.
New chapter: A caregiver and guest of honour with display a certificate as Marchetti looks on (Photo Credit: MML)
Chief Chauluka appreciated the tuition given to the caregivers saying the teachers’ training is for the betterment of children at nursery level and that if a child is well trained at that level, parents are always happy.
Eda Kachingwe Dambo, one of the trained caregivers said that she has learnt that a child is supposed to learn through playing and not to be forced.
Some learning materials on display (Photo Credit: MML)
“At first, we just taught the children without a proper training, but now that we have been trained, we know better and are fully equipped to impart knowledge on our learners. We are able to teach them in a unique way than before,” Dambo said.
During the graduation ceremony, the teachers presented their work and how it will help children to boost their intelligence. They also displayed their hand-made materials and explained how the items will help nursery learners to understand things better.
