Boy forced out of secondary school due to lack of fees

A 16 year old Form 1 student at Mchinji Secondary School is helplessly watching his bright future slip through his fingers due to her poor mother’s failure to raise school fees for him.

Despite being bright in class, Mayamiko Paul, who hails from Misi village in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Mavwere in Mchinji, cannot report to school for the second term as his widowed mother is failing to raise K48,000 for his fees.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Friday, Paul’s mother, Nataria Uledi said after her child got selected she raised the first term’s fees through subleasing her land to a friend for a period of three years.

“I subleased my piece of land, which I used to cultivate, to a friend for him to use it for a period of three years. Now I cannot do anything as I am poor. I’m even failing to find food to feed my family,” she said.

The mother said she has so far visited a number of institutions looking for bursary support but such efforts have yielded nothing.
She said life has been miserable for the family since Mayamiko’s father died.

“My son, since his primary education at Kabzala Primary School, has been scooping position one in every end of term exams until he got selected to Mchinji Secondary School,” she said.

In a separate interview, Mayamiko said his life has been rendered hopeless as he cannot figure out a future without education.

He said he has been helping his mother to do some piecework in an effort to raise the fees but it is not working out.

“I’m appealing to well-wishers to support me,” he said, adding that those willing to help can reach him through the Head Teacher for Mchinji Secondary School.

The Head Teacher, Harry James Kamwaza confirmed Mayamiko’s destitution.

Kamwaza bemoaned that the school has over 15 students who are failing to pay fees and are just staying at their homes.

“This is a very big challenge at our school because we have a big number of students of this nature in all forms,” he said.

He called upon well-wisher to come to the student’s rescue. For contact details or procedures on how to contact the boy, WhatsApp: +265881900092 or e-mail: [email protected]