Teaching made simple with Talular

"...There’s an old flip flop with three sizeable holes in its sole that sits amid scraps of paper on the concrete floor.

Talular is hard at work.

Teaching and learning using locally available resources, also known as Talular, is using any and every thing within reach, from bottle caps to old cell phone vouchers to make teaching resources.

“A teacher is a scavenger,” said Talular facilitator Byson Maneya during a Talular training at Zomba’s Mponda teacher development centre. Maneya has made more than 2,000 pieces of Talular in the last 10 years of his 16-year teaching career. His indefatigable enthusiasm and dedication have earned him the nickname, Mr. Talular.

Talular could not be more applicable in Malawi, as its 15-year-old free primary education system still struggles to cope with large class sizes with few teachers and fewer resources.

In Malawi’s schools, 60 pupils in a room is considered the target. In the Ngabu zone’s 14 schools alone, there are 10,802 students taught by 71 teachers, or a ratio of 152 students per teacher..."


Source: Yumimi Pang in The Daily Times (Malawi) of 02-04-09