VOLUNTEER TEACHING IN MALAWI, AFRICA
If you are looking for a volunteer teaching role in Africa, look no further! Ripple Africa runs eight preschools, supports six primary schools and a secondary school, operates a community library, adult education and a children’s corner program – so many opportunities to put your teaching experience to work!
Who
Qualified teachers, early childhood professionals, and volunteer trainee teachers of any subject at any level are welcome to volunteer with Ripple Africa. We will also consider applicants who have completed a degree in a program other than education. Applicants must be genuinely interested in making a worthwhile contribution, establishing solid relationships with the local community, have an enthusiasm for working with young people, as well as the ability to live in a rural environment.
Our volunteers are 23-years-old and upwards, with at least one year of professional experience using their skills in the workplace.
Placement Length
We encourage a minimum stay of four weeks. The average volunteer placement is around three months which allows volunteers to establish solid relationships in the community and contribute a reasonable amount of time to our projects. In most cases, this allows our volunteer teachers to complete one school term. Although volunteers benefit enormously from their experience volunteering with Ripple Africa at Mwaya, it is important to recognize that our main responsibility is to provide consistent and effective assistance to the community.
Volunteer Teacher in Malawi – Program Coordination
It is very important to maintain consistency and continuity in relationships, projects and work already underway. For this reason, you will be introduced to the relevant teachers in the local schools by a member of our staff. We have an Education Volunteer Coordinator whose role is to assist in determining where you will be most useful and to ensure continuity with work performed by past volunteers. Education volunteers may also work with our Education Coordinator and Preschool Coordinator if applicable.
Term Dates
There are three school terms during the year for both primary and secondary schools. The academic year starts in September, similar to the beginning of a new school year in the United States. Term dates can vary slightly but are roughly as follows:
- Term 1: September to December
- Term 2: January to March/April (depending on when Easter falls)
- Term 3: April to July
Please note that if your placement falls during a term break, there will be little work to do at the schools. When this occurs, often volunteers will organize additional clubs and classes to offer students while out of school.
Pre-Schools
Ripple Africa runs eight local preschools and is looking for overseas volunteers who want to get involved at the early childhood level.
Key facts about our preschools:
- Each preschool has its own building and three teachers
- Each preschool has 40 to 60 children attending per day
- Typical ages for preschool students are between two to five years
- Basic lessons are taught in preparing students for primary school
- Lessons include English, numbers, shapes, literacy, health/hygiene, and moral development/religion
- Lessons are structured to be fun with lots of songs, dancing, interaction and playtime with toys and outdoors
- Sessions run from 7:30 am to 10:30 am, Monday to Friday, with tea and sweet potatoes given to all the children before they go home
Volunteer needs:
- Assist the teachers with managing large class sizes of 40 to 60 children
- Introduce new songs and games
- Use basic English and math to help the children improve
- Help teachers with their professional development by sharing skills and expertise through training sessions and workshops
Many volunteers love working with the preschools because the children are so happy, love attending school, and simply make it a delight to volunteer!
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer teacher in Malawi at any of the preschools, please read the section about Preschools in the document called Information for Teaching Volunteers for more details.
Get in touch to find out how to volunteer with us
One-to-one teaching time
Mwaya Primary School and Other Local Primary Schools
Primary schools in Malawi are free and open to all. As secondary education is highly competitive and relatively expensive, primary school is often the only education rural Malawians receive.
Mwaya Primary School is the closest primary school to Mwaya Beach, and:
- Is a 10 minute walk from Mwaya Beach
- Approximately 1,000 pupils attend
- Has eight levels or classes, referred to as Standards 1 to 8
- Typical ages of students are five to 15 years although some are much older
- Class sizes can be as large as 100 to 150
- Lessons are taught in English from Standard 5 and upwards, which can be difficult for volunteers working with students who are just learning to speak, write and understand English
Areas for volunteer involvement:
- Assisting teachers with planning and lesson implementation
- Acting as teaching assistants to help cope with class sizes of over 100 students
- Helping teachers with their professional development by offering training
- Initiating or assisting with extra-curricular activities
- Providing after-school tutoring for interested students
There are also opportunities to help at five other local primary schools, Mazembe, Matete, Chiomba, Kachere, and Kazando. These schools are further away from Mwaya Beach than Mwaya Primary School, but they can be reached on a bicycle quite easily. As with Mwaya Primary School, there are a very large number of students and only a few government teachers. Ripple Africa pays for Malawian trainee teachers at some of these schools, as well as at Mwaya Primary School.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer teacher in Malawi at any of the primary schools, please read the section about Primary Schools in the document called Information for Teaching Volunteers for more details.
Secondary Schools
Ripple Africa built Kapanda Community Day Secondary School and provides ongoing support. We are always looking for overseas volunteers who have an interest in assisting at the secondary school level.
What you need to know about the school:
- Kapanda is a 30-minute bicycle ride from Mwaya Beach
- There are four class levels (referred to as Forms 1 to 4) and students range in age from 14 to 19 years
- Each class has approximately 50 students
- Kapanda has one of the few physics laboratories with science equipment in the north of Malawi
- A new computer laboratory has recently been added
- Teaches all subjects in English, with the exception of ChiChewa, the national language of Malawi
- Subject include English, math, agriculture, physics, biology, geography, history, bible knowledge, social studies, and ChiChewa
Areas for volunteer involvement:
- Assisting teachers with planning and lesson implementation
- Acting as teaching assistants to help cope with class sizes of 50 students
- Using specific subject knowledge to assist teachers and students
- Helping teachers with their professional development through training
- Initiating or assisting with extra-curricular activities
- Providing after-school tutoring for interested students
Please note that the role of all volunteers is to assist the current teachers and students, not replace or take the jobs of Malawian teachers.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer teacher in Malawi at the secondary school, please read the section about Kapanda Secondary School in the document called Information for Teaching Volunteers for more details.
How to Apply to be a Volunteer Teacher in Malawi
To find out how to apply to become a teaching volunteer with Ripple Africa, please go to the Application Process page, or complete the Inquiry Form.