Minister of Education, Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima says Malawi has not done well on foundational learning leading to numeracy and literacy poverty.
She was speaking in Lilongwe on Wednesday during the launch of the Foundation Learning Steering Committee.
She said it worrisome to note that 90 percent of early grade learners from Standards One to Four cannot read with comprehension and are not doing well in Mathematics hence the need to put in more effort in foundational learning in order to reduce dropout rate and improve on quality.
Meanwhile, Government has developed pillars that will work towards reducing learning poverty from the current 87 percent to 21 percent and ensure that 80 percent of learners can read fluently and with meaning by Standard Four.
United States (US) Ambassador to Malawi, David Young concurred with Kambauwa Wirima saying there is a literacy and numeracy pandemic in Malawi which needs to be addressed for boys and girls future.
He said it is for that reason that the US Government strongly believes in the importance of investing in early learning.
United Kingdom (UK) High Commissioner to Malawi, Sophia Willitts-King said the Committee is important as it will offer people a chance to not only go to school but also learn and have skills which they need in their lives.
Education Expert, Limbani Nsapato described the Committee as important given the learning crisis in the country.
However, he said, it will not be very easy to achieve all the pillars, particularly on digitalisation, because of internet access, electricity and gadgets challenges.
Ministry of Education is promoting foundational learning in order to improve education gains at all levels so that it is aligned to the Malawi 2063.
Reported by Patricia Kapulula
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