Seward Incorporated

Seward Inc. has begun work on the Malawi Teacher Professional Development Support (TPDS) project, a USAID-funded project. The three-year project aims to assist the Malawian Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) in implementing teacher education support and systems management. The project will emphasize completing and reinforcing the introduction of the Primary Curriculum and Assessment Reform (PCAR). Under the reform, the new primary curriculum is a major paradigm shift within the Ministry of Education from objective-based curriculum to outcome-based education. 

This project will engage teachers and school administrators nationwide. Key components of the effort will focus on:

• Strengthening teacher management and support systems
• Enhancing teacher performance
• Improving early grade literacy and numeracy for school children
• Improving primary education-related monitoring and evaluation systems and quality 

Seward will be leading the teacher training and professional development effort. Seward has led other teacher training and leadership development efforts in the Sultanate of Oman, Egypt, and Malawi, as part of the Malawi Teacher Training Activity. 

Part of the work involves building on the highly valued Malawi Teacher Training Activity (MTTA) in which Seward subcontracted to MIDEC partner Miske Witt and Associates for the design and development of an interactive training DVD on for use in pre-service teacher training. The work, completed in 2008, aimed to improve teacher professional skills and contribute to more effective schools through pre-service teacher training in Life Skills.