Education or selling merchandise?

Mangochi is one of the districts in the country where education levels and literacy rates are lowest. There could be many reasons to explain this.

In this picture, taken exactly between 9:15 and 9:17 am along the Mangochi-Namwera-Liwonde Road, children of school going age are seen selling merlot (locally known as masawu) during school hours. It was not a single bus stage. They spread out in various bus stops. This begs a question: What do parents of such children value? Education or merchandise?