Care-givers to start getting honoraria

Overall, the national budget allocation to ECD for the fiscal year 2022/23 is MK 21.8 billion, up from k12.3 billion in the fiscal year 2021/2022.

Malawi: Director of Child Affairs in the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Welfare, McKnight Kalanda, said that when the country's economy stabilises, caregivers working in various Community-Based Child Care (CBCC) Centres will begin receiving their honoraria.

He delivered the remarks on Saturday, October 29, 2022, at the Rainbow Children Development Centre Child Care Awareness and 15th Anniversary Celebration in Lilongwe.

Kalanda acknowledged that the government should invest more in ECD because most children, particularly in rural areas, lack access to early learning opportunities through pre-schools and are ill-prepared when they begin school.

"We have approximately 34,000 certified Early Childhood Development Caregivers working in various CBCCs across the country, and we have yet to begin compensating them once the economy has stabilised. We appreciate their sacrifice and hard work in shaping the future of Malawian children aged 0 to 5 years old, which is why the government, through our ministry, is considering paying them when the country's economy recovers,” he said.

Pastor Martin Henry Mbewe, Director of Rainbow Children Development Centre, stated that as a complement to the government's efforts to promote ECD, the centre looks after vulnerable children by providing shelter to orphans and abandoned children.

He stated that some of the children who were introduced to his centre from very poor circumstances are now enrolled in various universities across the country and are receiving full educational support from them.

"We're talking about children who came to us when they were young because their biological parents had died and there was no one to care for them. Chancellor College, LUANAR, Africa Bible College, Malawi Assemblies of God University, and Domasi are among the colleges where we have students. We currently have 47 children in our care, some of whom are in secondary school and others who are still in primary school,” he said.

Zakeyu Daniel, a student at Chancellor College pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Social Work, said he came to the Rainbow Children Development Centre when he was 6 years old and was given a home, food, clothes, and the opportunity to return to school.

"I'm interested in what I'm studying because I want to help other children in the same way that I was helped. There are children whose situations are far worse than mine, and he wishes to see them transformed and given the opportunity to return to school,” Daniel said.

There are approximately 60 thousand Caregivers working in various CBCCs, but only 2 thousand are paid. Various stakeholders have asked members of parliament to help lobby the government for more funding for ECD so that it receives the support it deserves and has a meaningful impact.

Overall, the national budget allocation to ECD for the fiscal year 2022/23 is MK 21.8 billion, up from k12.3 billion in the fiscal year 2021/2022.

Despite the fact that the ECD budget has increased by approximately 75.2 per cent in 2022/23, the major allocation comes from Development Partner World Bank through investment in Early Year's Project, which has increased from MK11.7 billion in the 2021/22 budget to MK20.5 billion in 2022/23 budget.

The government has only allocated 6% of the 21.8 billion dollars which poses a funding sustainability problem for the programme when donor support through the project phases out.