Country Focus: Malawi

With the raising of a flag outside their classroom in Phalombe District, students immediately recognise the warning of incoming heavy rains, quickly take cover and then evacuate under their teacher’s guidance, following marked routes to designated safe zones. 

The drill is more than a routine exercise, it’s a lesson in survival and part of Malawi’s pilot of new standard operating procedures for school safety. These procedures were developed through the GPE-funded Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative and implemented by Save the Children in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs and Malawi Red Cross. 

Across Malawi, floods, cyclones, droughts, heatwaves, and other climate-related events are disrupting education – damaging classrooms, destroying materials, and forcing children to stay at home. 

Read the full story from GPE’s website here.