Japan promises to invest in Malawi education sector
The Government of Japan has promised to continue investing in the country’s education sector through construction of school blocks, girl’s hostels and science laboratories.
Japanese Ambassador to Malawi, Shuichiro Nishioka revealed Wednesday on his government’s plans to construct 9 more school blocks for both primary and secondary school in the years 2014-2016 when handing over a US$110,000 (MK42Million) grant to Umodzi Community Day Secondary School in Lilongwe.
Nishioka stressed that education was a foundation for national building and that advancement of science enables countries to produce excellent human resource with innovative minds to develop new things.
“A nation with an educated and highly skilled population is likely to attain accelerated economic growth and development. Malawi being an agro based economy can benefit from having an innovative society that could contribute to the development of the new value added products and in turn boost the economy,” the Ambassador explained.
He further said, “However inadequate laboratory infrastructure and other learning facilities are making it difficult for most students in the country to engage in process of observation and analysis. I am therefore hopeful that our initiatives together with our joint effort will help in improving the quality of education in the country.”
The Ambassador described a grant to Umodzi CDSS which is found under Aquaid lifeline Malawi in Zomba as a positive step since it will help in the construction of a laboratory, administration block and a library.
“It is our expectations that after the completion of the project, about 200 students will have access to fully equipped science libratory and the library which are fundamental resource for supporting students learning.
“The administration block is likely to motivate teachers to work hard as we believe that conducive environment is a key to success of any organisation,” Nishioka said.
Deputy Minister of Education Science and Education, Vincent Ghambi commended the Japanese government for its continued support to the education sector.
Ghambi recognized construction of laboratories as good gesture and in line with the government intentions to uplift the teaching of science subjects.
“Government of Malawi attaches great importance to education in the country and efforts are being made to improve access to quality of education. Meanwhile, the government has developed the national education sector plan which lay out strategies for among other things is ensuring that the quality of education is relevant to the needs of the Malawi nation,” Ghambi said.
Apart from implementing the national education sector plan, Ghambi said the ministry is in a process of implementing a new curriculum for secondary schools and provision of facilities such as library and laboratories.
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