Please watch a 6-minute film covering the early education in Malawi and boNGO’s activities

boNGO’s main program aims at complex (multifaceted) approach towards uplifting the standards of early education for children aged three to six, most especially in the rural areas. To do so boNGO works with community based organizations, which have initiated childcare centers (pre-schools) in their villages. Among them boNGO carefully chooses those that have the potential to become an example for other childcare centers and helps to transform them into the Model Childcare Centers which offer a very high standard of care and serve as an inspiration and training facility for teachers from other centers too.

Childcare centers in Malawi

There are over 6 000 childcare centers in Malawi, providing care and education to children aged three to six. They operate Monday to Friday from 8 to 12 am and in some of them children receive food provided and prepared by the parents. Most of them are in rural areas and because they do not have proper buildings, they operate under a tree, lacking teaching materials and toys. The centers are usually initiated by leading personalities of the community that understand the importance of the early education but do not have the needed experience and resources. Teachers working at the centers are local volunteers with no pedagogical education who do their “job” out of passion and without any salary. They teach numbers, alphabet and English mostly through memorizing (video), which does not give the children enough stimulation and opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge in a broader sense. boNGO improves the standard of these centers through requalification of their teachers in trainings conducted in the Model Childcare Centers.

video from Chimwabvi childcare center

video from Nthaymwana childcare center

video from Masuku childcare center

Broader role of the childcare centers

The childcare centers should serve the whole community and offer a broad variety of social services (health care, adult literacy, agricultural workshops, youth activities etc.). As most of them lack a proper building they cannot fulfill its potential. On the other hand, the Model Childcare Centers supported by boNGO and having a proper building are being beneficial for the whole community.