First Lady Monica Chakwera has reiterated the call to increase investments being made in girls’ education in the country.
The First Lady made the call at Shaping Our Future Foundation (SOFF)‘s 2023 Top Performers Awards’ ceremony in Blantyre Wednesday.
At the event, Chakwera presented awards to 15 student beneficiaries of SOFF’s bursary programme.
The students scored between 10 and 15 points in last year’s Malawi School Certificate of Education examinations.
Chakwera presented a laptop to one of the students, laptop bags to all students and K200,000 and K150,000 cash to all the students depending on the points they scored.
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She also pledged to provide laptops to all students who will be selected to public universities.
Emphasising the importance of educating girls, Chakwera said girls continue to face challenges in their pursuit for education.
“This is why we commit to the creation of an environment that encourages not only girls but boys as well to attend and stay in school as the only way of breaking the cycle of poverty,” Chakwera said.
She then commended organisations for supporting her efforts in promoting quality education in the country.
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Chakwera said bursaries that have been provided have seen children from vulnerable households being given a helping hand to meet their education goals.
“But bursaries alone are not enough; we are taking another step of making sure that girls and boys have role models and undergo mentorship programmes so that they make right choices,” Chakwera said.
Plan Malawi International is one of the organisations that are supporting the programme.
The organisation’s country director for Malawi Mwape Mulumbi said working with SOFF has made it possible for many young people to access quality education.
“We, as an organisation, believe in inclusive education. That is why we are very proud that we have been collaborating with SOFF to ensure that many girls stay in school,” Mulumbi said.
Chakwera, who completed her secondary school through a bursary programme and is the ambassador for girls’ education in Malawi, launched SOFF in 2020.
Since then, over 2,356 students from 121 secondary schools in the country have benefitted from the initiative.
The foundation plans to reach out to 5,000 students with support by 2026.
