Minister of Education Bright Msaka has called for urgent action to ensure every child in Malawi stays in school and acquires strong literacy and numeracy skills from an early age.
Msaka made the remarks in Lilongwe during the pre-Foundational Learning Exchange (Pre-FLEX) meeting on Tuesday, which aims to help African countries learn from India’s recent foundational learning reforms.
He stressed that Malawi’s challenge is to ensure that every child remains in school, citing high dropout rates among learners between Standard 1 and Standard 8.
Former Secretary of Education in India, Sanjay Kumar, stressed that investment in education is both a social and economic imperative.
Kumar noted that each additional year of schooling raises a country’s GDP by 0.37%.
He emphasised that one of the biggest lessons from the conference is the need to invest adequately in teachers, ensuring they are well-trained, motivated, and able to engage every child effectively.
UNICEF Representative in Malawi, Penelope Campbell, underscored the urgency of tackling the learning crisis, with over 80% of children in Africa unable to read a simple sentence or do basic maths by age 10.
Campbell, therefore, has since called for evidence-based advocacy, stronger government financing, and coordinated action among development partners.
The Pre-FLEX event was organised as a lead-in to the Foundational Learning Exchange (FLEX) conference, to be hosted by Malawi from 15–17 July 2026.
By Glory Chinyanga
