Chiefs at Chitimbe in Traditional Authority Phalula in Balaka have expressed worry that children in the area are dropping out of school to take part in small scale mining in the area where miners says a gram of gold fetches at least K45,000.
Our visit to the sites also revealed safety concerns as children are working alongside adults without putting on protective gear.
Chitimbe which is 67 kilometres from Balaka township is reportedly having gold deposits, making the local communities busy as they try to make ends meet. 
In this area, small scale mining is the major source of income. Previously, the communities cashed in on charcoal production but this is no longer a viable business as there are no longer trees available for charcoal production.
Deforestation has ripped off their previous alternative of income generation .
However, despite the excitement among the villagers, the availability of this precious stone has created a hub for increased child labour.
As group village head Chitimbe narrates, most of the children in the surrounding villages takes ‘Mchekecha’ (gold mining) as their way of generating income for themselves and their families.
He said: “It is very pathetic seeing most children dropping out of school at primary level and resorting to gold mining which, eventually catapults them into early marriages since money is readily available to them.”
The village chief added that, parents are the ones in the forefront encouraging their wards to engage in the business in order to support them financially.
“It is worrisome again to note that parents pay a deaf ear despite several interventions including establishment of by-laws aimed at dealing with the vice. Parents are not in compliance to the by-laws and this renders traditional leaders ‘powerless,” he explained.
The chief recalls that, at some point, he annulled 46 child marriages and the children were enrolled back at the nearest school, Chitimbe Primary, though some of them returned again, mainly because of pressure from their parents.
Headteacher at the School, Jonathan Thambo, concurs with the chief observing that the presence of gold mines in the area has really affected children in terms of education.
Thambo expressed disappointment to see that drop-out rate has reached alarming levels.
“Before the mining works commenced around 2003, we could have a total enrollment of approximately 320 learners at this school. The enrollment started dropping down gradually and now, we have an enrollment of 180 learners for the whole school,” said Thambo.
He added that, the problem has also led to reduction in number of learners who reach Standard 8.
“Last year, we had only six learners who sat for Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) examinations, and this year, the figures were not satisfactory though, as we had only nine learners who sat for the same,” he explained.
In her remarks, Balaka District Assistant Labour Officer, Harriet Dendera said their office has scaled up monitoring exercises in all workplaces to make sure that cases of child labour are dealt with.
She said: “As a district, we are equally worried with the trend such that, together with our partners, we intend to scale up various interventions in order to eliminate the vice.”
Meanwhile, Balaka Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Network Chairperson, John Jackson Bamusi has also expressed concern with the development.
Bamusi said that most children are getting married at a tender age for many reasons, chief of them being the availability of the mines.
“They think that, since they have all the resources available, they are able to find money and because of that, they have reached a point of being independent and get into marriage,” said Bamusi.
Bamusi added that this will likely affect the area in the long run as it would increase illiteracy rate, which will bring adverse effects in as far as the development of the area is concerned.
He appealed to government and other stakeholders to act urgently on the matter.
In a quest to arrest the problem, Bamusi said the network will facilitate the formation of different committees at village level and also build capacity to the members in order to effectively solve the problem.
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Gold mining industry should be restarted again in Malawi. People must eat too.