Press Release
27 June 2008
New investment partnership to open door to education in Africa
 Image courtesy of
Zafrul Sattar/DFID
Over 1.2 million children in two of Africa’s poorest countries will get a
better education as a result of an innovative agreement, signed today between
the Department for International Development (DFID), the Governments of Rwanda
and Malawi and Band Aid/The Hunter Foundation, and managed by the Clinton Hunter
Development Initiative (CHDI).
The £4.7 million agreement will fund four teacher training facilities and is
expected to result in up to 4,000 new teachers in less than ten years. In
addition to smaller classes and better quality teaching for children already in
education, thousands of young Africans will go to school for the first time
ever.
Band Aid/The Hunter Foundation will provide up to £ 4.7m for the building and
fit-out of two new Initial Teacher Training Facilities (ITTF) in each country,
whilst the respective governments and DFID will fund the running costs, trainee
allowances and graduate teacher salaries.
The new colleges will be located in remote rural areas, where it is difficult
to attract and keep qualified teachers, and there will be a particular emphasis
on increasing the number of women teachers, which is a critical factor in
keeping girls in school.
Welcoming the partnership, Secretary of State for International Development,
Douglas Alexander, said;
"This Government has made education a priority in our effort to reduce global
poverty. Providing new and highly-skilled teachers means more children can go to
school, whilst the quality of the education improves for many more. That is why
this agreement is so important and I hope the partnership approach will be an
example for many more projects in the future."
 Image courtesy of
Zafrul Sattar/DFID
Speaking at an event at DFID, President Clinton said;
"Putting qualified educators in places where they are needed most is an
essential step in ensuring that our next generations have the opportunity to
live successful lives. I am so pleased that the Clinton Hunter Development
Initiative with the Governments of Malawi, Rwanda, and the UK are helping to
improve the lives of tens of thousands of children. By investing in teacher
training facilities, we are investing in the futures of Malawi and Rwanda."
From the same event, speaking for Band Aid, Sir Bob Geldof noted;
Sir Tom Hunter, chairman of The Hunter Foundation and Board member of CHDI
added;
"This looks to us to be a great way of delivering precisely what the
governments of Rwanda and Malawi see as their vision for education in their
countries; alongside DFID that makes for a great partnership model that's worth
trying out, and if it works taking it to scale. It’s fantastic so many children
can benefit from such an initiative."
 Image courtesy of
Zafrul Sattar/DFID
At present, the pupil to teacher ratio remains at an alarming 1:78 in Malawi
and 1:74 in Rwanda, with school completion rates at 30% and 52% respectively,
which are amongst the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa. Leading academics and
development experts repeatedly identify the recruitment, training and retention
of motivated and qualified teachers as one of the biggest problems to sustained
improvement in schooling.
The partnership agreement will deliver a substantive increase in
international efforts in meeting the educational Millennium Development Goals by
2015.
The delivery of the agreement, at no cost to the programme, will be managed
and augmented with further funds from the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative
(CHDI) who will oversee the design, build and transfer of the new colleges to
the respective governments.
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As an outcome of this agreement the following will be delivered;
Malawi:
- Class size reduction to a 1: 60 ratio by 2014
- 2,400 more pupils per annum receiving a quality education
- With 2,400 teachers trained by 2017 over 500,000 children will have benefited
from the programme
Rwanda:
- Class size reduction to a 1: 49 ratio by 2010
- 1400 new teachers entering the system by 2012
- Increased numbers of teachers for ICT, science and technology
- 700,000 more pupils per annum receiving a quality education by 2012
Additionally in Rwanda, DFID is investing a further £5 million this year to improve
health services, in line with the plans developed by the Government of Rwanda
and the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative/Partners in Health over the past
three years.
The Rwanda Minister of Education, Gahakwa Daphrose, said;
"This is exactly the right kind of partnership and intervention we need in
Rwanda’s education sector right now. Our biggest challenge now is not quantity
but quality. The training and deployment of additional teachers is a priority to
ensure that we provide the right kind of foundation for our children to access
secondary and higher education."
The Deputy Minister of Education in Malawi, Olive Masanza, added;
"This collaboration will help put well-trained, motivated teachers into the
rural schools that need them most. This is Malawi's number one priority in the
education sector. Having partners - both government and private sector - working
effectively together to make a difference is something we hope to see more of".
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