Community members in Traditional Authority Makwangwala in Ntcheu District have commended Save the Children for its cash transfer initiative which enables children to remain in school.
Under the initiative, the organisation made a once-off payment of K163 000 to beneficiaries with children in school.
Speaking in an interview on Friday, one of the beneficiaries, Elesi Khauya from Kuminga I Village, said the money helped her buy food and learning materials for her son Manuel Simeon.
She said: “My son Manuel, who learns at Livalo Primary School, almost dropped out last academic year due to lack of school materials, uniform and school development fund.
“However, Save the Children gave me money which I used to solve the problems. My son is now attending classes.”
To ensure she gets the most of the money, Khauya bought a goat.
“Besides providing my son with school materials and buying food for my family, I bought a goat. This goat will multiply and give me more money,” she said.
On his part, Livalo Primary School head teacher Brighton Makwiza said most learners drop out due to lack of learning materials.
“The cash transfers enabled beneficiaries to provide learning materials to their children. We do not register dropouts due to lack of learning materials anymore,” he said.
Ntcheu district director of planning and development Obed Mwalughali commended Save the Childen for the initiative, saying it was complementing the district council’s development plans.
“Supporting the education sector is commendable because it is in line with our development plans,” he said.
Save the Children programmes manager Esther Gama said they introduced the cash transfers to support families keep their children in school.
“We noticed that many families were affected by hunger. So, the cash transfers will help the families and their children,” she said.
