By Ireen Kayira, Contributor
Save the Children says sponsorship program in Zomba has increased enrollment in lower primary school progressively by 24.1% in the area of Early Childhood Care and Development.
Director of programs for Save the Children, Frank Mwafulirwa, was speaking at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe during the Sponsorship Programme National Dissemination Conference.
The Sponsorship Programme has phased out in Zomba where is has been implemented for 13 years and it will now be implemented in Ntcheu District.
“In Basic Education, we have also witnessed a reduction in dropout rate for lower Primary standards 1 to 4 by 1% and from standards 5 to 8 by 3.2%. While on the other hand, learners depicting basic literacy skills improved by 15.8%.
“For School Health and Nutrition, there is improved equitable access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services with the schools,” he said
Mwafulirwa said the project in Zomba started in 2008 where they have implemented Sponsorship funded packages of interventions to enable “children learn and develop to their full potential.
“Our program has been able to achieve this because of the strong partnerships that we formed with the communities.
“Save the Children is only there to implement but without the cooperation of the Chiefs, the communities and most of all the district teams, our efforts would have been in vain.
“It is our hope that as we migrate to Ntcheu, we shall also face a similar reception so that we bring endless benefits to the communities there,” he said.
He further said that as an organization they know that Malawi is still battling from the effects of Covid-19 and also from the economical effects of the War in Ukraine.
On her part Minister of Education, Agnes NyaLonje said the Sponsorship Programme has increased the performance of schools in Phalombe, Zomba and Blantyre during national examination results as these districts usually become top amongst all the 34 education districts.
She lamented that the Ministry wishes all children in the country could receive same treatment as their colleagues under the programme by the organization but the problem remains of inadequate resources.
First Lady Madam Monica Chakwera , who was the guest of honour at the ceremony, was crowned as Ambassador for the Save the Children Abwenzi a Ana Programme.
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