Malawi: Ministry of Education has expressed concern on the increasing number of students who are dropping out of classes. The administration believes that the community, family and parents are some of the agents through which this problem can be solved.
Family is one of be biggest reasons for students to drop out of schools, this is especially true when it comes to young girls. In many parts of Malawi and even wider Africa, young girls leave their education in favor of getting married.
In this regard, it is the responsibility of the government to educate parents and families to prioritize education for their children. Furthermore, community leaders and local headmen can also support the Ministry of Education in addressing this concern.
Another major reason for school drop outs is lack of funds to afford consistent and quality education. The community has to come together to address the issue.
The local leaders can collaborate with the ministry and promote access to quality education for students. This will help significantly in reducing school dropout rates among learners especially in rural areas of the country.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ministry of Education, Mphatso Nkuonera, highlighted that it is the duty of community leaders. They should be available to lend support to the children to go to school.
Thee Ministry has cautioned that they are witnessing negligence on the part of the local leaders. This has resulted in high school drop outs rate and poor performance of schools.
“As a ministry, it is worrisome that some communities do not support the children’s education systems in their areas which negates government efforts to promote quality education and reduce drop out cases.
“One of our core mandates as a ministry is to educate the citizens at community level while taking a great role in promoting children’s rights to education,” said Nkuonera.
Child Rights Activist, Memory Ngosi has also expressed agreement with the Ministry’s sentiments. She observed that the children in Lakeshore districts such as Mangochi, Salima, Nkhotakota, Nkhatabay and Machinga among others drop out of school due to poverty.
They resort to run small scale businesses to afford living with basic necessities, which violate their right to education.
“In many areas, most people depend on fish businesses for survival and l children follow in the same path as their parents without acknowledging their right to education.
“As such, cultural beliefs, poverty and lack of mind set change towards promoting children’s rights to education has fueled high cases of school drop out despite efforts by government and other stakeholders to counter the practice,“ said Ngosi.
However, the child rights activist has applauded the government for launching monitoring campaigns that trace and prohibit children doing any kind of business during school periods by providing stiff punishment to offenders and all people involved in the act.