More than 50 out-of-school children have graduated in the Complementary Basic Education (CBE) through the Transformational Empowerment for Adolescent Marginalised Girls Project in Mchinji.
CBE focuses on an accelerated learning approach for out-of-school children.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony in the district on Thursday, Director of Basic Education in the Ministry, Grace Milner hailed the graduates for taking part in acquiring knowledge through the project.
The project, fondly called TEAM Girl Malawi, was being championed by Link Community Development Malawi.
Milner, who was guest of honour during the graduation ceremony, stated that it is of great deal to see the youth showing interest in acquiring knowledge and different skills which will help them develop their lives.
“It is encouraging to us as a ministry to see these young people taking interest in the programme and following it to the end.
“This is one key that will help the nation to achieve the Malawi 2063 Agenda as learners learned to develop themselves but will also help their communities through the skills they have acquired,” said Milner.
Country Director for Link Community Development Malawi (LCDM), Harold Kuombola, explained that one of the key deliverables for the TEAM Girl Malawi Project was to enable learners to acquire functional literacy and numeracy through alternative education.
“This project has helped learners who were out of school for different reasons to learn how to read and write so that after acquiring such knowledge and skills, they can move forward with their lives like continuing with primary education as well as vocational training,” said Kuombola.
He added that at first, people did not show interest in the programme but as time went on, many enrolled in CBE including learners with disabilities.
One of the graduates, Agnes Lyson who dropped out of school due to financial constraints, said she would utilise the knowledge and skills gained from CBE to further her education so that she becomes a reliable citizen.
“After graduating from CBE and Link Malawi providing them with starter packs to help us further our education, I will not take the gesture for granted but put it to good use so that I set an example to others,’’ said Lyson.
CBE is implemented by Ministry of Education. Link Community Development Malawi has been one of the partners implementing the initiative for five years since 2018 through the TEAM Girl Malawi Project.
About 1500 learners enrolled in Cohort 3 in 25 learning centres across Mchinji, Dedza and Lilongwe.
In Mchinji at Kalulu Learning Centre, 60 learners enrolled and 57 of them graduated. Out of the graduated learners, 39 are going back to primary school while 18 will venture into entrepreneurship meaning that only three learners dropped out.
