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- Long distance to primary education negatively affecting children in Nsanje, Malawi
Long distance to primary education negatively affecting children in Nsanje, Malawi
Children in Group Village Headman Chomanika and nearby villages in Nsanje, Malawi, are struggling to access primary education due to long distances, writes Cornelius Lupenga.
Malawi-Children in Group Village Headman Chomanika and surrounding villages in the area of Senior Chief Tengani in Nsanje, Malawi, are facing challenges in accessing primary education due to distance, writes Cornelius Lupenga.
Many children start school at ages 12 or 13, and girls are forced into early marriages before reaching grade 4.
Boys, on the other hand, engage in illegal activities such as erecting gin traps or poaching, which has led some to end up in prison.
To alleviate the problem, the Makali Child Care Foundation Initiative (MCCFI) opened a junior primary school for younger children.
Three volunteer teachers are employed, and the school currently has 163 learners. 38 learners have been picked to start Standard 1 at Bwangu Primary School, including 14 females.
The ultimate goal is to build a full primary and secondary school on a piece of land already identified.
However, the current challenge is providing food for the children at the centre, as they lack maize, pots, and plates for the women to prepare porridge.
"Children the ages of 6 to 7 could not afford to walk a distance of between 8 to 10 kilometres to the institution in question, and this development forces many of them to start school at an older age of either 13 to 14 years," said GVH Chomanika.
"We came up with the idea to establish the school," said the Director of Makali Child Care Foundation Initiative-MCCFI, Fello Mziza.
"I have employed three volunteer teachers who are on my payroll. The Nsanje District Social Welfare Office has also assisted us with toys for the children to play with.”
One of the volunteer teachers, Brian Secret Ngala, said that teachers from Bwangu Primary School visit the centre to identify learners who are performing well to send them to the school.
He added that food is the main challenge they face at the centre.
Village Headman Magaleta agreed with Ngala, saying that the centre lacks maize and enough pots and plates for the women to prepare porridge.
However, he disclosed that a piece of land has already been identified for the construction of a full primary and secondary school to solve the problem.
The director of MCCFI, Fello Mziza, explained that the aim of establishing the early childhood learning centre was to help young children attain education at an early age.
He said that dozens of school-going children were just sitting idle in the villages because they could not access the nearest primary school, which was over 10 kilometres away.
The situation is especially difficult for young girls, who are forced into early marriages before completing their primary education.
Mziza's efforts to establish the early childhood learning centre provide hope for children in the area who have been struggling to access education due to distance.
Overall, the story highlights the challenges that children in rural areas of Malawi face in accessing education and the efforts being made to overcome these challenges.
The establishment of the early childhood learning centre provides a glimmer of hope for children who would otherwise have little access to education.