FAWEMA was contracted by UNICEF to provide capacity-building services in gender-responsive pedagogy (GRP) for teachers in public secondary schools in Malawi. The contract will run from January to December 2021. The main objective of the project is to equip head teachers and teachers from secondary schools with the knowledge and practical skills to deliver gender-responsive teaching services for equitable quality education outcomes. Equipping secondary school teachers with knowledge and skills in gender-responsive classroom management, methodologies, processes, and practices is essential for improving learning outcomes for both girls and boys.

This is in line with the Government of Malawi’s aspirations on gender equality which, through the Ministry of Education, acknowledges that gender mainstreaming in all sub-sectors of education and training is a critical component towards achieving gender responsiveness in education.

The project targets head teachers and teachers from the six target districts. In total, the project targets to train 460 head teachers and teachers in all the six districts mentioned above. The successes the project is registering include:

• A total of 225 teachers (153 males, 72) and females have been trained to date.
• Teachers have started implementing Gender Responsive Pedagogy in schools and schools have reported that gender roles have improved in the school set up and boys are able to do girls’ roles and vice versa e.g. Bangula Secondary School. Again, more girls are taking part in school leadership roles like in prefecture and class leaders with support from their teachers e.g. Phalombe Teacher Training College.
• GRP networks have been established across the 4 districts and teachers are able to share successes, best practices, and lessons learned through this platform fostering coordination and networking.