Parents and teachers in Traditional Authority Nkaya in Balaka District have said poverty is preventing some learners from accessing education in the area.
They said this on Tuesday when Life-Changing Foundation donated learning materials worth K4.5 million to 350 pupils from Madwani and Chilusa primary schools.
The materials included school uniforms, exercise books, and writing materials.
In his remarks, group village head Emanuel, who is also Madwani Primary School Parent-Teacher Association chairperson, said many parents are struggling to support their school-going children, which is worsening dropout rate.
“We started a small business to support less-privileged pupils with learning materials, but we are failing to reach all of them,” he said.
On her part, Ethel James, whose child Priscilla received a wheelchair from the organisation, said the aid will improve her child’s mobility.
She said Priscilla, who is in Standard Seven at Madwani, had to crawl a kilometre to school.
“Sometimes I had to carry my daughter on my back to school,” said James.
Madwani Primary School head teacher Alan Kasonje said extreme poverty was taking a toll on children’s education in the area.
He said 17 learners have dropped out this academic year alone and are involved in casual labour in people’s farms to raise money to buy basic school necessities.
“The school has 800 learners, but not a single day passes without recording over 100 cases of absenteeism,” said Kasonje.
Life-Changing Foundation executive director Maxwell Billy said they support less-privileged learners in the district as poverty affects their pursuit of education.
“This is one of the initiatives we are undertaking to create a conducive learning environment for underprivileged learners,” he said.
The donation came through support from well-wishers from the United States of America
