BY BLAIR MHONE
World tennis icon Roger Federer is in Malawi visiting School Readiness Initiative projects under the Roger Federer Foundation (RFF).
Federer yesterday met Minister of Gender, Social Welfare and Community Development, Patricia Kaliati at Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Dowa Teachers Training College where he presented 3000 tablets, 3000 solar kits and 3000 solar batteries to Malawi Government to help in building capacity for pre-primary school caregivers and early childhood development teachers.
Speaking on the donation, the Minister said the tablets will be distributed to pre-schools across the country so that many children benefit from them.
She said: “Today, we received another kind gesture from Roger Federer Foundation through Roger Federer himself. We have received 3000 early learning kiosks which consist of several items like Solar panel, a battery and a tablet which will be used in different Centres across Malawi to teach our kids in Early Childhood Development Centres as we prepare for primary education.
“Let me put it straight here that the Foundation has already constructed and upgraded over 400 ECD’s across Malawi of which 80 of them were upgraded to Model Centres. Investing in early learning years also has long-term benefits of reducing early marriages and teenage pregnancies as most learners, especially those in rural areas, will have developed a spirit of concentrating on education.”
On his part, Federer said children in Malawi deserve quality pre-school education as one way of investing in a long-term development of the country.
RFF has been implementing the Malawi School Readiness Initiative in 19 Districts since May 2020 and will last until 2026.
The initiative aims at securing a good start into primary education for vulnerable children through provision of access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education.
The School Readiness Initiative has a target of at least 339’000 vulnerable children in 2,500 Community Based Child Care Centres.
The Roger Federer Foundation has been supporting the implementation of early childhood programmes being implemeted by the Malawi Government, ActionAid Malawi, Livingstonia Synod and Association of Early Childhood Development.
