public schools

Improving the educational environment for students and teachers through the provision of basic school supplies and the coordination of teacher workshops.

Realizing that education is the key to a brighter future, Malawi has made primary education free and compulsory for all children. As a result, millions of children are enrolled in a school system that lacks sufficient facilities, staff and materials. Teachers and students surveyed by Goods for Good explained that a lack of teaching and learning materials is one of the primary contributors to high dropout rates and low education standards. In Malawi, 40% of children drop out of school by fourth grade.

Given these circumstances, G4G’s Public Schools program has two central elements. The first is providing direct material support to all students and teachers through the Pens and Pads for Progress initiative, and the second is providing teaching materials through the Teacher Supply Closets program. To date, over 1,000 schools have been supported through the Public Schools program.

pens and pads for progress

50% of school children in Malawi dropout of school by the fourth grade; it is estimated that 28% of those dropouts occur because the students can’t afford school supplies. In an effort to ensure that a lack of basic educational materials is not a barrier to education, Goods for Good is providing pens and pads to students and teachers throughout Malawi and Liberia.

To date, Goods for Good’s Pens and Pads for Progress initiative has provided over 510,000 pens and 450,000 notepads to over 465,000 school children. Since the beginning of this program, schools surveyed noted a 30% increase in attendance, greater equality among pupils and improved student and teacher motivation.

Each student enrolled in one of our partner schools receives two to three pens per term, depending on grade level. All school staff receives pens as well as notebooks for lesson planning. This program proves that something so small can have such a huge impact!

teacher supply closets

With an average student to teacher ratio of eighty-three to one, teachers in Malawi face many challenges in their classrooms; particularly, a desperate lack of teaching materials. In an effort to address this challenge, Goods for Good launched the Teacher Supply Closet initiative.

This initiative supports teachers in Malawi by providing them with educational and creative materials. The availability of materials greatly improves the learning environment and enhances teachers’ ability to engage students in the learning process. G4G has rolled out the Teacher Supply Closet program to 20 public schools in Malawi. Partner schools in the United States as well as companies donate the materials in the Teacher Supply Closets. To learn more about how you can support this program click here.

Program Prose

“As government, the funding that we receive from our national budget is too small to reach the over 5,000 primary schools in the country. The help we receive from partners like Goods for Good matters most.”

- Mr. Kalanda, Director of Basic Education at Ministry of Education, Malawi

 

” During the distribution, all the children were dancing. For many of them, these items were crucial for the exams; without the materials they would not have been able to prepare for or write the national exam”

- Hawah Goll-Kotchi, Deputy Minister of Education for Administration, Liberia

 

“We used to see a lot of children staying at home due to lack of pens but now we have noticed that those children are attending school regularly, and we are proud of this.”

- Village Headman Kavala, Malawi

 

“Students are excited about the beautiful pens, so they are spending more time writing their assignments. Now every student writes the work we give them and this makes our work as teachers much easier.”

- Lexy Guluwe, teacher at Kachulu Primary School, Malawi