Bishop Mtumbuka Opens the 2017 Catholic Teacher’s Conference
“Calls on Delegates to Engage in a Candid Discussion on Issues Affecting Education in the Diocese”
Bishop Martin Mtumbuka of the Diocese of Karonga, on 28th December, 2017, officially opened the 2017 Catholic Teachers Conference at Miracle Technical Institute in Karonga . This two-day conference runs from 28th to 29th December, 2017.
The conference, which has attracted over 60 participants, started with a Holy Mass at 8 am followed by an official opening ceremony. In his opening remarks, Bishop Mtumbuka welcomed and thanked all the teachers for coming to the conference. He urged the delegates to use the conference as an opportunity to grow in faith, personality and profession.
He also called on participants to discuss how the Diocese could better run its educational institutions considering that some of the schools she owns, both primary and secondary, are not doing very well. The Bishop lamented that it is always difficult for the Diocese to identify suitable people who could run the education institutions. To this effect, the Bishop challenged the teachers to propose people among themselves who could be appointed as head teachers of some Catholic primary and secondary schools.
On her part, Mrs Martha Chizumila, chairperson for the Catholic Teachers Association highlighted that the conference has given the teachers an opportunity to interact and contribute to the improvement of education standards. She also thanked the Bishop for his presence and continuous support to the association.
The conference has lined up a number of topics and presentations which include Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic Education Policy, Family life and the Teaching profession, Professionalism in Teaching Career, Personal Finance Management, Management and Performance of Catholic Schools, and Mission and Identify of Catholic Teachers in Small Christian Community.
Education Desk Mobilizing Parents to Help Their Children Acquire Reading Skills
By Deodatus Muriya (Monitoring and Evaluation Desk Officer)
The Education Desk of the Diocese of Karonga held a planning meeting at Vipya Lodge in Chilumba from 21st to 22nd December, 2017. This is part of the 18 month National Reading Programme, which the Education Desk is implementing with funding from USAID through RTI.
According to the Education Desk Officer, Mr Remmie Kamanga, the aim of the meeting is to orient the project team on the details of the project design and to develop a detailed implementation plan of the.
Further, Mr Kamanga said the project will help communities understand their responsibility in helping their children to read and write which are essential skills in the teaching and learning process.
The project will directly benefit the school children in the attainment of learning outcomes. This will help the children to pursue their education which is a springboard for personal and community development.
As an implementing agency, the Diocese of Karonga is facilitating in community mobilization for communities to take part in in helping their children to read and write. The project will be implemented in the entire districts of Chitipa and Karonga.
Digital Libraries for Malawi Project Expected to Transform Learning and Teaching Experiences in Schools
By Mwawi Shaba
The Digital Libraries for Malawi Project is expected to transform the learning and teaching experiences in resource short schools in Karonga Diocese.
This realisation was revealed by Mr Remmie Kamanga, the Desk Officer for Education in Karonga Diocese on Monday, 13th November, 2017 during an inception and planning meeting for the two week activities which Niels David Kunz and Frederik Bachmann will be undertaking as part of the project in Karonga Diocese.
Niels David Kunz and Frederik Bachmann are implementing a Digital Libraries for Malawi Project which seeks to close the resource gap in terms of books and teaching materials by establishing online libraries that are also energy efficient and affordable. This would enhance learning and teaching as information technology will be used to supply and disseminate ebooks covering relevant topics in reference to Malawian secondary school syllabus .
The two also expressed their excitement regarding rolling out the project in Karonga Diocese and that they looked forward for a successful work in the two school
Niels David Kunz and Frederik Bachmann are in Karonga Diocese working with Chaminade and St Mary’s Karonga Girls Secondary schools in a pilot phase of the project.
Head teachers and other teachers at the schools are very excited by the project. Accordingly to Mrs Martha Nyondo; the Head teacher at St Mary’s Secondary, they are very grateful that Niels and Frederik chose the two schools for the project.