By Prisca Promise Mashushu

Lilongwe, October 18 Mana: The Ministry of Education has called on communities and local leaders to collaborate and lend a hand in promoting access to quality education and reducing school dropout rates among learners especially in rural areas of the country.

In an interview with the Malawi News (Agency (Mana), Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ministry of Education, Mphatso Nkuonera, highlighted that it is the duty of community leaders to support children to go to school saying negligence has resulted in high school drop outs rate and poor performance of schools.

“As a ministry, it is worrisome that some communities do not support the children's education systems in their areas which negates government efforts to promote quality education and reduce drop out cases.

“One of our core mandates as a ministry is to educate the citizens at community level while taking a great role in promoting children's rights to education," said Nkuonera.

Concurring with Nkuonera’s sentiments, Child Rights Activist, Memory Ngosi, said children in Lakeshore districts such as Mangochi, Salima, Nkhotakota, Nkhatabay and Machinga among others drop out of school due to poverty and they resort to run small scale businesses which violate their right to education.

“In many areas, most people depend on fish businesses for survival and l children follow in the same path as their parents without acknowledging their right to education.

“As such, cultural beliefs, poverty and lack of mind set change towards promoting children’s rights to education has fueled high cases of school drop out despite efforts by government and other stakeholders to counter the practice, “said Ngosi.

Ngosi has however applauded the government for launching monitoring campaigns that trace and prohibit children doing any kind of business during school periods by providing stiff punishment to offenders and all people involved in the act.

One of the concerned people in Machinga district, Albert Gideon, blamed parents for not taking an initiative to promote children's education due to poverty reasons and they push the children to do business as a means of survival.

“Children’s goals should commence at an early stage for a better future, but most people depend on money for survival. In Machinga parents Introduce their children to businesses at a younger age," said Gideon.

He however commended the government’s initiative to promote children’s right to education by building quality schools and providing all resources needed for teaching and learning in both primary and secondary schools as one way of promoting access to quality education in the country.