Announcement of IDA Supports Training of Teachers, Secondary Students, and Accountants in Malawi on March 10, 1983

-. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEA~E eWorldBank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.•Telephone: (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 83/48 Contact: Pushpa Schwartz March 10, 1983 (202) 477-3294 IDA SUPPORTS TRAINING OF TEACHERS 9 SECONDARY STUDENTS, AND ACCOUNTANTS IN MALAWI Malawi's critical needs for more trained teachers, secondary school graduates, and accountants will be met under an an education project to be supported by a credit of SOR 30.9 million ($34 million) f~om the International Development Association (IDA), the concessionary lending affiliate of the World Bank. The East African country, one of the world's poorest, has only one teacher for every 65 primary school children. The lack of trained manpower has slowed Malawi's development. Under the Fifth Education Project, three new primary teacher training colleges will be built and one existing college expanded to ser:ve • each of Malawi's three regions. At full operation in 1988, the fout colleges will enroll an additional 1,560 students, raising primary teacher training capacity by 80%. A demonstration school for 400 students will be constructed next to each college. Twenty-five new centers for the Malawi Correspondence College (MCC) will also be established and the MCC staff will be strengthened. The result will be an increased number of children receiving secondary level education. In addition, a new rural secondary school for 480 students will be built in the Lilongwe District, the country's fastest-growing district, and another secondary school will be renovated an.~ expanded. Malawi's needs for trained accountants through the 1990s will be met through IDA support to the Malawi College of Accountancy in Blantyre. IDA has previously approved four education projects in Malawi totaling $73.4 million. The Third Education Project, using an IDA credit of $14.5 million,is supporting self-help construction of about 1,000 primary school classrooms and is supplying about 2.2 million textbooks. The fourth project is assist~ng the government to expand secondary education by providing 3,960 new student places. The IDA credit is for 50 years, including 10 years of grace; it_~- carries no interest but has a small service charge (0.5% on the undisbursed balances of the credi.t and 0.75% on the disbursed balances). ~ NOTE: IDA credits are denominated in SDRs (Special Drawing Rights), which are valued on the basis of a "basket" of currencies. The U.S. dollar - equivalent of the SDR amount of the IDA credit reflects the exchange rates existing at the time of the negotiation of the credit.