TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

1. INTRODUCTIONS
There is growing evidence supporting that Malawi has embraced Early Childhood
Development substantiated by the presence of various ECD centres, projects and
programs across the nation. Despite the increasing interest in ECD, there still remains
the need to expose and align parents and the workforce in ECD, who happen to be an
influencing element in the delivery and quality of ECD, to knowledge, skills and values
in Early Childhood Development that will translate into the provision of high-quality
delivery of ECD services.
In an effort to address this gap, the Faculty of Education intends to conduct a training in
ECD that will support and empower parents and those work directly with young
children. The latter is vast and diverse as it includes professionals and
paraprofessionals, paid and unpaid workers, and frontline workers, trainers,
supervisors, and managers from the education, health and nutrition, social protection
and child protection sectors. 1 Moreover, tapping into this rich and diverse workforce will
not simply be beneficial to the workforce and the children but to Malawi Assemblies of
God University as well as this will be a critical factor in growing the institution’s
strength and authority in ECD.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE TRAINING
1. Improve knowledge and abilities related to Early Childhood Development.
2. Build and strengthen skills of parents and ECD workforce in specific areas for
efficient delivery of ECD services and programs.

3. Improve parents and ECD workforce behavior so that they functions effectively and
efficiently in areas of focus and fulfil their potential.
The goal of the training is to increase knowledge and strengthen skills and abilities of
the ECD workforce in Malawi so that it functions effectively and efficiently and delivers
high-quality ECD services.

3. THE DESIGN AND DELIVERY OF THE TRAINING
The faculty plans to implement two types of trainings, both subjected to time factor:
Short Term Training Courses
The plan is to start with a training in ECD for a period of 2 weeks, on 16th August, with
Lilongwe as the targeted area. The short term training has its basis on the fact that
access to shorter training programs can be beneficial to early childhood workforce
members who are unable to participate in full-time or degree programs. 2 Short term
trainings are also a pull factor to parents who simply want to learn more about child
care and development. The training will concentrate on one specific area considering the
number of lecturers available and for easy monitoring of progress. Certificate of
attendance will be given upon completion of courses.
This type of training will encompass the following areas: Child Growth and
Development, Teaching Strategies for Young Children, Phonology in ECD, Learning
through Play, Parenting Skills and ECD, Caring for Children with Special Needs, M & E
for ECD Programs and Child Rights and Protection.
Long Term Training Courses
In the long run, the faculty anticipates to offer Long Terms Courses (Corresponding to
the UCE Program) to benefit ECD workforce members who have the opportunity to
participate in full-time trainings. However, the trainings can either cover six months (3
sessions and each session covering two weeks) or be delivered on a yearly basis split into
3 sessions with each session covering a period of two weeks.

A successful implementation of this type of project will require that the faculty works in
coordination with the leading ministry of ECD, the Ministry of Gender, Social Welfare
and Community Development as this is the ministry’s policy. Certificates in ECD will be
issued upon completion of course work.
Courses to be offered include, Introduction to ECD (will also encompass History of
ECD); Childcare, Growth & Development (to cover Child health & Well-being concepts
as well); Learning through play (to include assessment for dvpt. milestones as well);
Caring for Children with Disabilities; Child Rights and Protection; Teaching strategies
for Young Children / Literacy and language development for Children (also covers
numeracy for Young Children & Transition concepts); Parenting Skills & ECD (to
encompass guidance and counselling in ECD concepts as well); Creative Arts for Young
Children (practical sessions); M & E for ECD programs; and Phonology in ECD.

4. METHODS OF TEACHING AND COURSES
Learning requires active involvement of the participants. 3 As such, the delivery of the
training will include a combination of coursework and field training (encompassing
visual stimuli, verbal interaction and learning by doing) in order to adequately grow the
participants’ knowledge base and improve their skills in ECD.
For both types of trainings, the delivery will not necessarily cover the entire course;
rather, major components/areas of that course. For this to be effective, the responsible
personnel will revisit the current course outlines to develop curriculum that suits the
intended goal and purpose of the training.

5. COSTS AND FEES
For short term training, the department proposes the following:
 Remuneration per facilitator (K65,000 to K70,000)
 Fees per individual (K35,000 to K40,000)
 Administrative fees (30%)
For long term training, the following has been proposed:

 Remuneration per facilitator (K65,000 to K70,000)
 Fees per individual (K350,000)
 Administrative fees (30%)

6. CONCLUSION
Training and professional development opportunities are key to providing critical
knowledge and skills to members of the early childhood development workforce.
However, limited access to such opportunities among specific groups due to a number of
factors including the duration of training and education programs, teaching and
learning methods, and relevance to local contexts, reduce their potential to function                                                                                better in their assigned activities or fulfil their potential. In the long run, this has a
tremendous effect on young children’s ability and capacity to develop and learn. It is
against this situation that the faculty of Education, the department of humanities,
precisely, seeks to establish a project that endeavors to conduct training in Early
Childhood Development.