‘Like many schools around the world, our daughters’ school closed during Covid.As educators, my husband and myself began to teach our daughters at home. Very soon the neighbours in the village were sending their children to us – so we opened an outdoor classroom on the grounds around our house.
As the weeks progressed the number of children joining us increased till eventually we knocked out a wall in our home and converted it into a classroom. One classroom grew to two, to three and then to four classrooms and a new school, Golden Kids Park Academy was born.
The need to offer an early education experience for our local children aged 3-6 years old was too big for us to ignore. We opened our pre-school and now have 100+ little ones joining us every day.
“Things go a long way in Malawi”
That was five years ago and now we also have a fully functioning primary school for children aged 6-12 years as part of the Ministry of Education and Sciences and Technology.
It’s a joy to be able to offer a nursery experience to many of our young children. Their parents do not lack ambition for their children but do lack opportunities for them to fulfil their potential. That’s where we hope to plug the gap.
“Mwana has already funded outdoor play equipment – the children love it”
All lessons in Malawi are taught in English from the age of 7 – many children do not speak English so being able to attend pre-school means they get exposed to English early so are more likely to be able to take part fully in their own education from aged 7 years. We are partnered with Mwana’s and join them in their journey to give us the funds to buy quality and appropriate educational resources for our pre-school.
We have already benefited from the books and outdoor play equipment which the founders of Mwana have helped fund.
Watch out for more stories from Mangochi, Malawi. We want to share our stories with you.
