This document discusses promoting early childhood development for children with disabilities in Malawi. It notes that until the late 1990s, there was little progress on equitable access to early childhood development services, but that the government has since focused on providing access through Community Based Child Care centres, especially for vulnerable groups in rural and urban areas. It also describes various stakeholders involved in early childhood development in Malawi and outlines the objectives and approach of a project called Anthrologica, which aims to promote inclusion of children with disabilities and measure child development through inter-sectoral collaboration.

1. Promoting early childhood
development for children with
disabilities in Malawi through
multi-sectoral approaches
ESRC-DFID Conference
Pretoria
Dr Kholowa, Chancellor College,
Malawi
Dr Lynch, University of Birmingham
March 2016

2.  Up to late 1990s little movement
in the provision of equitable
access to ECD services
 Government has taken lead to
provide equitable access to
ECD services by focusing on
the most vulnerable in both
urban and rural through
Community Based Child Care
(CBCC) centres.
 2000 on wards - good progress
on coordination and legal
frameworks for implementing
equitable child development
programmes
2
2
Overview of ECD service provision in Malawi

3. ECD- SABER Country Report,
2015
 Half of caregivers received 13 days of
training.
 Of the 26,888 pre-primary school teachers
employed, only 56 % had received training by
2011.
 Child-to- teacher ratios are not enforced
(average 28:1 for 3 to 5years).
 CBCCs operate a minimum of 15 hours per
week (when they are functioning).

4. Access trends in ECD Services in Malawi
YEAR CENTERS CHILDREN PERCENTAGE
1996 649 31,866 1.20%
More private than
public ECD centres
1997 693 37,994 1.45%
1998 785 38,166 1.50%
1999 871 42,249 2.11%
2000 1,155 51,550 2.63%
Increased public ECD
services through
CBCCs
2001 1,645 72,760 2.91%
2002 2,602 127,036 4.88%
2003 3,207 135,436 5.64%
2004 4,529 229,823 9.70%
2005 5,945 582,407 22.40%
2006 6,240 615,478 26.76%
2007 7,801 683,825 29.77%
2008 8,398 720,292 30.23%
2009 8,917 771,666 32.13%
2010 9,340 820,918 33.87%
2011 9,780 895,818 33.87%
2012 9,783 1,057,553 36.74%
2013 9,874 1,255,373 38.04%
2014 10,209 1,344,723 39.61%
2015 11,105 1,400,965 40.03%

5.  Government
 Communities
 Local and international
NGOs
 UN Organisations
(UNICEF, WFP)
 The World Bank
 Save the Children
 Action Aid
 Catholic Relief Services
 Sight Savers
 Academic and
professional institutions
 World Vision
5
5
Various stakeholders play a key role but
synergy is critical

6. Ministry of
GCDSW
Children
Director
National
ECD
Coordina
tor
Training
of
caregiver
s
Disability
Director
CBR
programm
es
Social
Welfare
Director
Responsible
for child
protection,
Monitoring &
Evaluation of
CBCCs
Ministry of
Education
Finances
MoGCDSW
Responsible
for children
6-8 (primary
schools)
Government structures for ECD in
Malawi

7. National level ECD studies
 Protecting Early Childhood Development
(PECD) in Malawi: Baseline Survey; Midline, and
Endline Evaluations (Supported by The World
Bank, 2010-2014)
 Objective of the grant: to enhance the quality of
early development and learning environments for 3-
5 year olds in pilot areas
 4 pilot districts across Malawi (Balaka, Dedza,
Thyolo, Nkhata Bay)

8. 8
 Like other preceding interventions, PECD
findings direct implications for current
research on disabilities
 CBCC dynamics and general operational
environment
 Gaps/challenges in terms of ECD service
delivery at community level
 Practical issues on measures of child
development
 Lack of caregiver training to support children
with disabilities
PECD Project (cont’d)
8

9. Ti kule limodzi
Let’s grow together
Anthrologica

10. Main objectives
 Promote ECDE inclusion for children with
disabilities through adaption of curriculums,
teaching methods and inter-sectoral
collaborations alongside measuring child
development.
 Advance an approach to mainstreaming
disability inclusion in to ECDE policy, strategy
and programmes in Malawi and the Southern
African region.

11. Specific objectives
 Develop tools to address these barriers, drawing on
a broad range of social science disciplines;
 Measure the progress of a child’s development and
examine how children with disabilities are meeting
the learning objectives;
 Document the progress of the ECDE interventions
on the educational inclusion of children with
disabilities by exploring the development of an
approach to mainstreaming disability;
 Make evidence based recommendations to policy
makers to allow them to improve the delivery of
quality ECDE services.

12. Intersectoral partnering
 Seek to strengthen ties between the
Education, Social Welfare (Ministry of
Children) and Health Services at district level
by engaging support workers from a variety of
cadres to provide ECD services to families.

14. Malawi Early Learning and
Development Standards (ELDS)
(Revised 2015)
Domains of learning and development:
1. Physical development
2. Social and emotional development
3. Approaches towards learning
4. Language, literacy and communication
5. Cognition and general knowledge
6. Spiritual and moral development

16. Assessment tools
 Malawi Development Assessment Tool
 Specific questions on basic literacy,
numeracy
 Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale
(Revised)
 Washington Group Questions
 Kirkpatrtick-Philips Evaluation Model

17. Research Plan
 Community-based action research – focus
groups & interviews
 Mapping of CBCCs using GIS
 Training of caregivers
 Assessment of children and centres
(baseline)
 Trial – one year
 Reassessment of children (endline)
 Post trial interviews and focus groups
 Reflections - dissemination