USAID Funded Malawi Teacher Professional Development Support (MTPSD) Program

The project aims to support the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in various endeavors, including the implementation of the New Primary Curriculum, Continuous Professional Development, Information Management Systems, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Policy, to improve the quality of education. One of the core indicators of MTPDS is improving early grade literacy and numeracy among learners in primary schools. To achieve this goal, MTPDS is implementing an early grade reading intervention in Salima and Ntchisi, which focuses on the development of basic literacy skills and knowledge. The program introduces foundational skills that students must learn in order to read, such as letter knowledge, phonemic awareness, syllable reading, word reading, and oral reading fluency, as well as listening and reading comprehension. The teacher's manual, "Maziko a Kuwerenga" (Foundations of Reading), focuses on effective practices that teachers use in teaching reading, but that can be used to teach any subject matter. The manual contains a variety of activities for both teachers and learners for the development of literacy skills. Although the intervention is focusing on Chichewa, the approaches are quite suitable for teaching any language, including English. The manual is structured around six units, each focusing on a specific aspect of reading instruction. Unit 1, "Tsiku 1" (Day 1), introduces the concept of letter knowledge and phonemic awareness. The unit begins with a lesson on the sound /a/, which is the first sound that students learn to read. The lesson includes activities for both teachers and learners, such as identifying the sound /a/ in words and practicing reading words that start with the sound /a/. The unit also introduces the concept of syllable reading, which is the ability to read words that have one or more syllables. The lesson includes activities for both teachers and learners, such as identifying the syllable pattern in words and practicing reading words that have one or more syllables. Throughout the unit, the manual emphasizes the importance of phonemic awareness and letter knowledge in reading instruction. The unit also includes activities for both teachers and learners to practice reading words that start with the sound /a/ and to identify the syllable pattern in words. The manual is designed to be used by teachers in primary schools in Malawi to improve the literacy skills of their students. The activities and lessons in the manual are designed to be engaging and interactive, and to provide teachers with the tools and resources they need to support their students in developing their literacy skills. The MTPDS program is committed to improving the quality of education in Malawi, and the teacher's manual is an important part of this effort. By providing teachers with the tools and resources they need to support their students in developing their literacy skills, the manual is helping to improve the literacy rates of students in Malawi and to support the country's efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.