Africa-Press – Malawi. Deputy Minister of Education Monica Chang’anamuno says stakeholders need to work together to support girls to stay in school because education is key to development.
Chang’anamuno said this on Tuesday in Lilongwe during the commemoration of International day of the girl child. The event was organised by Forum for African Women Educationalist in Malawi (FAWEMA). According to Chang’anamuno, if the country is to develop there is need for girls to continue with their education.
“There are so many girls who are getting married before the age of 18, there are so many girls who are getting pregnant as a result they are dropping out of school but that’s not the end of everything because us in the Ministry of Education we have admission policy whereby we would like these girls to come to school and let them know that there’s still a chance to come back so that they can continue with their education.
“We have heard a testimony of this girl from Njewa who was married but at first she thought that getting married is going to get her out of poverty but at the end day she found herself more vulnerable. Right now she has decided to go back to school and that’s what we want,” said Chang’anamuno.
In his remarks, Executive Director for FAWEMA, Wesley Chabwera said girls are facing various problems and challenges regarding their lives but also their future and as FAWEMA they work with girls to support them being in school.
Chabwera also noted that there are various challenges girls are facing such as child marriages, teen pregnancies and economic hardships which force them to drop out of school.
“We find this day as an important day to be able to reflect with the girls and hear from them the challenges that they are facing and interface with duty bearers. The Deputy Minister of Education and other high level duty bearers should hear from the girls and address the issues that the girls are bringing up.
“As education sector we know that more girls are now getting into school but the challenge is to keep them in school.
“Completion rates are still below boys and even this year’s PSLCE results still show that girls are lagging behind. So we recognise that there are still challenges that we need to address,” said Chabwera.
He then urged all partners to come forward and support the girls that have dropped out to go back to school because most of these girls lack some resources hence any support to them will have an impact in their lives.
“So we want to encourage the parents, the mother group, we want to encourage schools to be able to take back these girls into school so that these girls can be given a second chance and complete their education and be dependable,” explained Chabwera. The International day of the girl child was being commemorated under the theme “Our Future Our Rights “.
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