COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on schools across the globe, from school closures to the challenges of adapting to learning during a pandemic.

Chiwenga Primary School in Likuni, Lilongwe, faced a number of challenges with the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020. “School closures disrupted learning and will potentially lead to poor performance of learners,” says headteacher John Kalumo.

But it has not all been doom and gloom at this school. In 2020, the Ministry of Education received US$10 million from the Global Partnership for Education through UNICEF, to boost its COVID-19 response, and recover from school closures.

Chiwenga Primary School also benefited from water sanitation and hygiene supplies.

“The buckets and soap that we received meant that learners and teachers could wash their hands before entering a classroom,” says Kalumo. “This helped boost good hygiene practices at our school, consequently making the school safer from COVID-19.”

According to Kalumo, the surrounding community played a significant role in keeping the school safe: “They sprayed the classrooms every fortnight, mopped classrooms and ensured that water was available in the buckets at all times. They also helped with sweeping the school premises to keep the campus looking clean.”

The school also put up posters to raise awareness in the community of COVID-19 prevention measures. In addition, 50 out of 63 teachers were trained in mask making.

Arnold Chatheka, Primary Education Advisor for Lilongwe, confirms that the support from GPE has been effective.

“Schools were able to practice COVID-19 measures and, as a result, we had fewer COVID-19 cases identified in schools in this area,” he says. “Furthermore, disinfecting of schools was done in all zones in Lilongwe, thanks to GPE funding.”

The government of Malawi complemented GPE support by providing funding to some schools to construct additional classrooms, allowing learners and teachers to practice physical distancing more easily.

As a result of the measures supported by GPE and the government of Malawi, the country’s children experienced a full year of schooling in 2021.

This blog was originally published on UNICEF’s website.