Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Provided by Gloria Thom Four of the Malawi students currently on campus. From left to right: Elizer Kalilombe, Justina Longwe, Gloria Thom, and Alemekezeke Chitanje.

Every year, Lakeland College welcomes a few students who entered a very competitive selection process from the African country of Malawi. Different from other international students at Lakeland, they came here to partake in the special program called Malawi Teacher Education Initiative (MTEI).

A small country located in the southeast corner of the sub-Saharan continent, Malawi was a British colony until it gained its independence from the U.K. in 1964. According to the World Bank report, Malawi is recognized as one of the ten poorest countries in the world. Its annual per capita income is about $200.

Malawi has a population of 13 million people, with half of the residents less than 16 years of age. More than 90 percent of the children in Malawi go to primary school. Although the percentage of pupils who go to primary school is high, fewer than 20 percent go to secondary school. The most common reason for such a low percentage is the lack of money available to go to school.

According to Professor of Writing Jeff Elzinga, a director of MTEI, it is hard to say the education situation in Malawi is good. There are not enough school materials such as stationery, chairs, desks, blackboards, and even classrooms.

But what they really lack are teachers. Since the establishment of a free primary education policy by the Malawian government in 1994, the number of primary school students increased from 1.9 million to 2.9 million. Teachers cannot afford to teach such a large number of students.

The government tried to increase the number of teachers, but most of them were not trained well. It is a struggle to provide trained teachers for the overcrowded classrooms.

"Even in such an environment, there is a fact: Malawian kids are thirsty to study," Elzinga emphasized. Although they do not have access to enough education equipment, students are eager to study. In the pictures which he took in Malawi, there were many kids who raised their hands and asked questions.

To improve the education quality, it is necessary to improve the quality of teachers. Therefore, the Malawi Teacher Education Initiative program began.

Continued...

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