South Korean National Commission For UNESCO Donates 40,000 U.S. Dollars To Help Raise Literacy Among Adults in Malawi

UNESCO presented South Korea's donation of $40,000 at the Bridge Writing Festival Award and Fund Handover ceremony held on Friday, Sept. 11, at Mwera Community Centre in Lilongwe, Malawi. South Korea's donation will provide for the printing of teaching and learning materials for Malawi's adult literacy classes.

"This gesture cements the cordial relationship that exists between Malawi and South Korea and between the peoples of the two countries," said Patricia Kaliati, Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare. Kaliati also expressed her sincerest appreciation of South Korea's contribution. 

Nyasa Times also noted on Sunday Kaliati commending the young South Korean volunteers at the Community Learning Centres who have been visiting and helping the village since 2010.

"The young Koreans have brought positive changes in the communities they lived and worked with," said Kaliati. "Community members from Namiyango in Blantyre, Naphini in Zomba and here at Mwera will agree with me and can testify to this. We trust that such cooperation will continue."

The Bridge project has greatly benefited the Malawi community which only has a literacy rate of 61.3%. The consequent illiteracy is a contributing factor to Malawi's current state of poverty since there is a lack in teaching and learning materials due to budget constraints.

"Education is indeed a vital component in determining the future of a country," explained Secretary General of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO Dong Seok Min "so there is no doubt about the need for stronger cooperation and solidarity among the Government of Malawi, the Malawi National Commission for UNESCO and the Korean National Commission for UNESCO in this regard."

South Korea's monetary donation is expected to produce 19,000 printed textbooks which will benefit 5,000 students from 90 community learning centres. It will also provide training programs for educators in order to enhance their knowledge and deliver quality education to adults.

Ripple Africa is another organization that aims to improve literacy in Malawi. The organization runs two adult literacy classes: one in the village of Mwaya and the other in Mazembe. The students in both classes are allowed to borrow books from the library every week to aid in their learning process.

Ripple Africa noted on their website that illiteracy is a widespread problem in Africa due to "lack of access to quality education, high student to teacher ratios, high primary school drop-out rates, and low secondary school enrolment."