Two 14-year-old boys at Chiwiza II village in Ntcheu who were among outstanding candidates in the 2019 Primary School Leaving School Certificate of Education (PSLCE) exams in the district are struggling to get school fees for their secondary education.
The two, Ulemu Thomas and Cassim Liwonde, sat for exams at Kadambwe Primary School and were selected to Ntcheu Secondary School after passing exams with good grades.
Headteacher for Kadambwe primary school, Cecilia Kambalame told Malawi24, that after this year’s PLSCE results were released, she has been seeing these boys going around the village seeking piecework.
According to Kambalame, parents of one of the boys resolved to sell all her goats only to realize that the total income from their livestock cannot keep their son in school.
“Their parents told me the whole story when I visited them to establish the future of the boys. It concerned me to see one of the parents dropping tears while saying poverty has pre-empted my hard work and intelligent son from going to secondary” Kambalame explained.
The story of Thomas and Liwonde uncovers barriers to education at Chiwiza II and surrounding villages where many children drop out of school after reaching Standard 8.
Mariam Chalimbana, 19, who is a form three student at Good Hope Private in the district and is also from the same may not to proceed to Form 4 this coming 2019-2020 academic year.
In an interview, Chalimbana whose support comes from her fathers’ bicycle transport business (Kabaza) disclosed that her journey has been onerous due to poverty and she plans to temporarily drop out of school and find a job at Cape Maclear, a business area in Mangochi.
All well-wishers interested to assist can contact the following numbers 0882073291/0995740436/0888012905/0882656609.
