RIPPLE Africa supports primary education in Malawi by helping five primary schools in the villages of Mwaya, Matete, Mazembe, Kachere, and Kazando. Primary education in Malawi is provided by the government, however government schools are extremely under-funded, lacking even the most basic resources including enough teachers, books, desks, and classroom blocks (for more information, please read the section about Primary Education in Malawi, Africa, on the General Information About Education in Malawi page). RIPPLE Africa is helping by paying for 15 additional Malawian trainee teachers, and providing textbooks, desks, teacher training opportunities, together with our overseas volunteers who provide valuable help in the classroom as volunteer teaching assistants.
RIPPLE Africa has also conducted important building work for these primary schools. RIPPLE Africa has built two double classroom blocks at Mwaya Primary School which provide four additional classrooms, as well as a teachers’ office and new toilets. Through RIPPLE Africa’s partnership with the American not-for-profit organisation Taking Back Lives, the charity has also helped build a double classroom block at Mazembe Primary School, and has renovated and painted existing classrooms at Mwaya, Mazembe, and Matete. However, even with this tremendous help, there are still not enough permanent classroom blocks for every class at any of the five primary schools. RIPPLE Africa needs help to raise the money to build more classroom blocks for these five primary schools in Malawi.
Between the five primary schools which RIPPLE Africa helps, there are just 29 government teachers for 40 classes, creating an average student to teacher ratio of 105:1, and leaving 11 classes without teachers altogether. At Mwaya Primary School, which is the biggest school, there are just seven government teachers for over 900 students, which makes a student to teacher ratio of 131:1! Other schools such as Mazembe have only five government teachers, and Kazando has only three! It is absolutely essential that RIPPLE Africa supplements these government teachers by providing additional trainee teachers to reduce classroom sizes. RIPPLE Africa wants to reach a target of 25 trainee teachers, which means student to teacher ratios would be cut in half at 56:1. It is also critical that we continue to provide enough books, resources, and volunteers to improve the general learning conditions for these children.
RIPPLE Africa actively encourages its trainee teachers to apply for proper government teacher training so that more trained teachers can be employed at the primary schools. This also means that the government will pay their salaries, and RIPPLE Africa can then employ other trainee teachers — and so the process continues.
Building work is also essential. Students who don’t learn in permanent classroom blocks either study in temporary structures or are taught outside, which can make teaching in the rainy season impossible. For most Malawians, they will never receive any education beyond primary school, so it’s essential to thousands of people that primary school education is as good as it possibly can be. RIPPLE Africa is continuing to do everything we can to improve education, but we need donors to help us do it.
RIPPLE Africa is encouraging primary school pupils to plant trees
At Makwalakwata Primary School, the pupils have planted over 2,000 trees
The trees at Makwalakwata Primary School are growing quickly, providing shade and a sustainable source of firewood and polesIt costs RIPPLE Africa an ongoing monthly sum to support these five primary schools. Other projects are one-off capital costs, such as building a new classroom block, or providing new desks. RIPPLE Africa is looking for enthusiastic donors to provide support to help the primary schools:
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