By Eranivey Temani

Lilongwe, December 11, Mana: Action Aid Malawi says school drop-out rates have decreased in six Traditional Authorities (T/A) in Lilongwe Rural West through a programme called School Readiness Initiative (SRI).

Speaking on Tuesday during a District Executive Committee (DEC) meeting, Action Aid Programmes Manager, Anderson Moyo, said the drop-out rate has dramatically gone down due to a number of initiatives the organization has been undertaking in the area.

“Most children have gone back to school since 2020 and the numbers have gone down from 357 to 147. This was possible because we constructed Community Based Childcare Centres (CBCCs), employee caregivers and also primary school teachers,” he said.

Moyo said their target is to reach out to 5,686 pre-primary children but so far they have already managed to reach 4,040 in the second phase, a sign that the project will be a success.

He further said the project has promoted coordination and collaboration between primary schools and CBCCs, and increased enrollment in primary schools.

However, Moyo said despite the successes which the project has registered, there are also numerous challenges such as the unavailability of food in CBCCs which somehow reduced the enrolment and attendance in Early Childhood Development Centres and schools as well as poor structures which failed to withstand disasters.

Lilongwe District Social Welfare Officer, Derek Mwenda, has since applauded Action Aid for the initiative saying it will go a long way in increasing the number of young learners in schools.

The project has been implemented from 2020 to 2024.

Action Aid is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) whose primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide.