Investing in early childhood education

Sitting in her mother’s lap, Benadetta recites the alphabet and numbers. 

At her tender age of three, the young girl boldly shares what she would like to be when she grows up.

“A teacher,” Benadetta says smiling before sinking into her mother’s arms and shunning away further questions.

Benadetta is one of 95 children enrolled in a World Vision funded early education centre in rural Malawi. 

Benadetta’s mother, Adija Kafuse, says Benadetta is the first of her three children to attend early education.

“Previously, I did not see the worth of sending my children to preschool. To me, preschool was a place where parents would dump their children so as to concentrate on their daily chores,” explains Adija, a small scale rice farmer. 

In the past, Adija believed that children who attended preschool learned unbecoming behaviour from mischievous friends. 

As a result, Adija and other parents in her community opted to keep their children at home. 

The growing number of children who were entering primary school without a basic foundation for learning contributed to a high rate of children who were failing and dropping out of school. 

Realising the challenge, in September 2011, World Vision partnered with government, local leaders and other organisations working towards the advancement of children’s education in Adija’s community. 

Children at Tiyamike CBCC have learned how to take care of themselves, including washing hands after visiting the toilet. Photo by Wezzie Banda

Following the campaign, Adija enrolled Benadetta in the preschool, even though she was very reluctant. 

However, her earlier intuition proved wrong. Adija witnessed many great changes in Benadetta. 

“I was really amazed to see my daughter speaking English; identifying letters, colours, figures and diagrams within a short stint,” Adija says. 

Adija’s perception towards preschool has changed. 

“I have already started encouraging friends to send their children,” she says. 

Emily Mkongoza, 29, works as a caregiver at the preschool on a voluntary basis. 

Emily says the number of children has been increasing because of the playground equipment the school provided by World Vision, along with the nutritious meals the children receive. 

“We teach them to wash hands after visiting the toilet and we encourage them to water the trees which they planted some two months ago,” Emily says. 

Emily says that when the early education centre was established in 2010, there were only 30 children. Now there are 95 children, and more are expected.