Malawi is struggling to achieve its target of reducing primary school dropout rate to 1.5 percent by 2030 as the Malawi Education Statistics report shows that dropouts in primary and secondary schools increased in 2024.
Under the National Education Sector Investment Plan for 2020 to 2030, the country targets to reduce dropouts in primary schools to two percent in 2025 and 1.5 percent by 2030.
But statistics indicate that last year, 227 102 learners, comprising 112 311 male learners and 114 791 female learners, dropped out of primary school compared to 201 000 in 2023.
With 5.4 million learners enrolled in 2023, the figure represents a dropout rate of 4.3 percent which is an increase from four percent in 2023.
Reads the report: “In the 2023/24 academic year, the three main reasons for dropping out were poverty, family responsibilities, and truancy. In all these cases, male dropout rates were higher than female dropout rates.”
Over the past five years, the highest figures were reported in the 2021/22 academic year when 220 00 male learners and 235 000 female learners dropped out mostly because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On the other hand, the primary school completion rate also dropped from 53 percent in 2020 to 45 percent in 2024.
For secondary education, the total number of dropouts in 2024 was 24 371 compared to 22 069 in the previous academic year, marking a 9.4 percent increase.
The report cites lack of fees, pregnancy and marriages as the leading reasons for dropouts
Meanwhile, Civil Society Education Coalition executive director Benedicto Kondowe has said the rising dropout rates in Malawi are alarming and threaten the country’s progress toward equitable and quality education.
In an interview yesterday, he said addressing this issue requires a multi-faceted approach, starting with strengthening social protection programmes such as targeted bursaries, school feeding initiatives, cash transfers to support vulnerable learners and tackling gender-specific barriers.
In the 2024/25 National Budget, the education sector was allocated K895 billion, an increase by 35 percent from the 2023/24 allocation.
