Announcement of Six Million Three Hundred Thousand Dollars Credit to Malawi for Education on May 3, 1967

.INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION 1818 H STREET, N.W, WASHINGTON 25, D. C. TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IDA Press Release No. 67/5 Subject: $6.3 million credit to Malewi May 3, 1967 for education The International Development Association (IDA), an affiliate of the World Bank, has approved a credit equivalent to $6.3 million to Malawi for an education project. The credit will assist in financing the construction and equipping of a new college for the training of primary school teachers, and additions to 12 secondary schools. T.he college will increase the number of primary school teachers and also raise the 1tandards of primary teacher training. The additions to the secondary schools will make possible nearly half the planned expansion of enrollment up tr 1970 and will broaden the curriculum to include technical subjects so that students will be pre- • pared more effectively to meet the .manpower requirements of Malawi's economy • Malawi, a land-locked country in southeastern Africa, has a population of over 4 million. The educational system is patterned after the British in organizational structure and course content, but most of the schools are operated by voluntary agencies~ The Ministry of Education su~ports the few government-operated schools and gives grants-in-aid to most of the voluntary agency schools. In 1965 there were about 340,000 pupils enrolled in primary schools, or nearly half the cerresponding age group. There were, however, only about 8,000 pupils enrolled in secondary schools, or less than 1\% of the eligible age group. At present, the Ministry of Education does not plan to increase the proportion of children in primary schools, but rather to improve the quality of the education provided. The most compelling need is fer an improvement in the quality of teaching • in primary schools. The new national primary teacher training college will con- tribute directly toward meeting this need and will ser.ve as a model for the larger, more modern institutions which Malawi needs to effect an upgrading of primary  - 2 - teacher training standards. It will have higher admission requirements and will pro- • duce better qualified teachers of all subjects in the primary school curriculum. The college will be under the administrative control of the Ministry of Education. In the early years, the teaching staff will include expa,triates as well as .Malawians. In order to increase the number of qGaliEied Malawian instructors, 20 fellowships for the training abroad of Malawians are provided for, about half of which will be financed by the IDA credit. The college will be located in Lilongwe, a populous town in the Central Region, and will have an ultimate enrollment of 540 students, an increase of 41% in Malawi's primary teacher enrollment. The present capacity of the secondary school system is insufficient in relation to the size of the primary school system and to the demand for secondary school grad- uates. In 1965 less than 8% of primary school leavers were able to enter secondary schools. The project now being undertaken will make possible a significant expansion of the secondary school enrollment by 1970. Furthermore, the introduction of a terh- nical curriculum will provide at least one year of instruction in technical subjects for students in academic courses and, through the four-year technical curriculum, produce secondary certificate holders who will be qualified for employment in jobs ~ requiring technical skills or who can proceed with greater ease to higher technical education. More than 5,000 pupils will be affected and the capacity of 10 schools will be increased by 1,860 places. The existing teaching antl residential accommo- dations vary considerably among the 12 selected secondary schools; but the project includes the construction and equipping of classrooms, laboratories, workshops, libraries, student hostels, assembly halls, staff houses, extensive site improve- ments, additions of administrative and service facilities, and the renovation of some buildings. The Government has established a new unit within the Ministry of Works and Supplies which will be responsible for the execution of the project and the necessary coordination witn other agencies. The Government will also employ architects to undertake the necessary architectural and engineering services. The total cost of the project is estimated at the equivalent of $7 mil- lion. The IDA credit of $6.3 million will cover 90% of the total cost, and the balance will be met by the Government of Malawi. The IDA credit will be for a term of 50 years. Repayment of the principal will begin on April 1, 1977, after a 10-year period of grace. Thereafter, 1% of the principal will be repayable annually for 10 years and 3% will be repay- able annually for the remaining 30 years. The credit will be free of interest, but a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum on the amount withdrawn and out- • standing will be made to meet IDA's administrative costs.