Armed with a black book, Traditional Authority (T/A) Kaphaizi of Kasungu is teaching his rural community the importance of keeping children in school amid competing distraction as our Staff Writer JAMES CHAVULA narrates:
Nothing beats the thrill of doing good because it is good, says T/A Kaphaizi.
“I’m a teacher for life,” he narrates. “For me, teaching is an inescapable calling.”
The Chewa chief, born Elvis Chinguwo 70 years ago, retired in 2014—a year before his enthronement.
He goes door to door to ensure every child learns.
“After teaching for 20 years, I was shocked to see children in my area staying home or walking aimlessly when classrooms were half-empty,” says T/A Kaphaizi.
He bought a hard cover to track the absentees.
He states: “The book is a tracking tool. It has columns for parents’ names, their children, village and class. I go door to door ticking names of children gone to school and class by class verifying if they didn’t branch on the way.
“If some children aren’t in class, I fetch them and summon their parents to discuss the importance of education.”
The chief has become a trusted social influencer in Kankha Initiative implemented by the Story Workshop Trust and Development Communication Trust with support from Unicef through the United Nations Joint Programme for Girls Education.
The initiative promotes community leadership and social accountability to keep children in school and safeguard their future.
The community-level tracker also serves as a back book where T/A Kaphaizi lists parents who repeatedly fail to send children to school.
“Our bylaws require negligent parents to pay a goat or K40 000. A guardian can tell whether a child goes to school by checking exercise books daily,” he says.
The ‘black book’ has sent ripples of fear in the tobacco-growing community.
“Previously, learners were sneaking to Kaphaizi Trading Centre to watch films, beg in pubs and play pool. These days, I see parents going to Kaphaizi Market solely to take their children back to school for fear of losing goats,” says the chief.
Group Village Head (GVH) Kaphaizi terms the traditional authority a leader to emulate.
The GVH states: “T/A Kaphaizi has inspired village heads in his tobacco-growing locality to keep their eyes firmly on children.
“If I go to Mposo Village and Mr Limbikani Manda tells me his 12-year-old son, Patson, has gone to school, I will follow the boy to Standard Six. If he isn’t there, I will look for him, as does the chief, and caution or punish Mr Manda to monitor the child.”
The chiefs use the fine to support needy learners.
Last year, they banned video showrooms and pool games during school hours.
They have also stopped adults from playing football and netball in school grounds when classes are in session.
GVH Kaphaizi says the T/A’s enthusiasm has opened community leaders’ lips to debate contentious cultural practices, including sights of Gule Wamkulu when children are supposed to be in class.
T/A Kaphaizi and village heads have since outlawed public appearances of the crowd-pulling traditional masks during school hours. Loud music and child labour is also forbidden.
Headteacher Ruth Katola says community leadership has ramped up class attendance from less than 50 percent to over 95 percent.
“The chief’s tracking tool and bylaws have made a community that once believed educating their children was a teachers’ responsibility to realise their power and role to tackle absenteeism. These days, the number of children departing home for school matches those seen in class where teachers tick the daily attendance register,” she says.
Katola urges all traditional leaders to emulate T/A Kaphaizi’s zeal.
“When teachers and community leaders unite, children get quality education to achieve their dreams, uplifting families, communities and nation,” she says.
