Thyolo District Council is scheduled to construct15 Model Community Based Care Centres (CBCCs) in all the 15 traditional authorities (T/As) with support from World Bank
Thyolo District Social Welfare Officer, Derick Mwenda said on Friday the Bank is also supporting the capacity building of community based structures, staff and caregivers.
Mwenda said once completed, the CBCCs will enhance knowledge in as far as early education in rural areas is concerned, saying the project has come in Thyolo to enhance the knowledge of children who are the age of going to nursery schools since the main goal is to invest in early education and enhance it in rural areas.
The CBCCs will be constructed under government project dubbed Investing in Early Years Project (IEYP) with financial support from World Bank and Global Financing Facility (GFF).
The project has three components namely Community Based Nutrition and Early Stimulation Interventions; Centre Based Early Learning and Multisectoral Coordination; Capacity and System Strengthening.
“The targeted areas to benefit this project include 15 traditional authorities among them Nchilamwela, where the model CBCC will be called Kanjedza; in T.A. Changata the CBCC will be named Mwanama while in T.A. Bvumbwe it will be called Mountain View CBCC.
“The project development objective is to improve coverage of and utilisation of early childhood development services with focus on nutrition in view of efforts to address challenges related to early child development and the effects of poor health and nutrition.
“This project has come here in Thyolo to improve the knowledge of children who are in the ages of going to nursery schools since the main goal is to invest in the early years in order to promote early education in rural areas,” said Mwenda.
Mwenda further said the CBCCs will not only benefit at nursery school’s level but rather at a district level because some of the CBCCs will have satellites connection in which community members will be using for internet access.
He, therefore, called upon community members to contribute and participate in terms of ownership and commitment in order to have better services.
Besides Thyolo to be a beneficiary of this project, World Bank is also funding the construction of other model community based care centres in Machinga, Rumphi, Dowa and Likoma, just to mention few.
The CBCCs Construction Project in Malawi is to the tune $60 million (over MK44.2 billion).
Source: Mana
