Thirteen vulnerable students who were being supported by the Zomba Social Welfare Officer have been selected for various public universities in the country.
District Social Welfare Officer for Zomba, Christopher Ndaona, disclosed that the officer supported 18 students in the 2022/2023 academic year, and 13 of the students were the ones selected to go to different Universities.
He disclosed this during a Child Protection Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting and said this is impressive considering that the needy beneficiary students worked hard in class to get selected for university.
He, therefore, observed that despite their socio-economic status, needy children have the potential to excel in their education if given educational support.
The Social Welfare Officer has called on different organisations of goodwill to support needy children to attain education by passing
the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) Examination and secure places at different public universities.
He also faulted some parents who forced their children into marriages at the expense of their right to education, revealing that 42 girls were rescued from child marriages in Zomba in April this year.
“I commend the government for supporting needy students with school fees through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and G to G. This will enable many needy children to stay in school,” he explained.
Zomba Child Protection -TWG Chairperson Pastor Saul Mateyu said he was equally impressed with the performance, which represents 70 per cent success.
He also appealed to organisations to render support to needy students by providing school fees and other educational materials so that they should remain in school until they finish both secondary and university education.
