We are pleased to share with you feedback from a project successfully delivered by our partner in Malawi, Centre for Community Education and Social Development (CECESD), between January and April 2021.
This three-month project partnered with two schools in Lilongwe: Maani and Kambwa Primary Schools.
Why was this project needed?
Issues affecting adolescent girls and boys are preventing them from returning to and staying in school post Covid-19. This denies them the ability to complete their education and reach their full potential.
Girls are barriered from education due to time poverty and additional household chores that they are burdened with due to gender stereotyping of traditional roles. When schools closed in Malawi due to COVID19, there was a rise in teenage pregnancies and early marriage.
Boys face different issues. Being idle whilst not at school, a rise in the use of drugs and alcohol amongst young males has been evidenced, which is a precursor to them dropping from school.
Despite their want to do so, rural and under-resourced schools in Malawi lack the capacity to holistically support girls and boys, and particularly those that are most vulnerable, to return to and remain at school.
Project Outcomes
With a discrete grant of £500 from Amplify Action, CECESD successfully delivered intended project activities and capital purchases for both Maani and Kambwa Primary Schools.
The project ensured an inclusive approach working to support children that are most vulnerable of dropping out from school, particularly following extended closures.
Key outcomes included:
School Committees are better equipped to support vulnerable children: 24 members from Parents and Teachers Associations (PTA’s), Mothers Groups and School Management Committees (SMCs) received basic counselling skills education to better enable and equip them to identify and support children that may be facing challenges at home or at school.
40 vulnerable children have sustainable access to ongoing support and knowledge: 20 girls and 20 boys who were identified by PTA’s and SMCs as some of the most vulnerable children in the local communities have been attached to mentors.
40 children received life skills sessions for three months. These safe space groups encouraged pupils to feel more comfortable sharing their experiences and challenges, reducing the feeling of isolation. During these sessions pupils were also received information on teenage pregnancies, early marriages and the affects of using of drugs and alcohol.
40 vulnerable children are equipped with the pre-requisite resources to support them to stay at school: CECESD purchased learning materials such as exercise books and writing pens, water buckets and hand washing stations, sanitiser, and sanitary pads. The exercise books and pens were provided to 40 students, both girls and boys from Maani and Kambwa primary schools. Each student received 10 exercise books and 2 writing pens and girls of puberty age also received sanitary pads.
Thank YOU for taking the time to understand Amplify Action’s work in Malawi and the outcomes that our partner CECESD are delivering through their locally led approach; supporting the most marginalised children to remain in school and reach their full potential.