Programs

The primary schools in Malawi are for free, the only costs are for uniforms and text books. Uniforms are not obligated and a lot of primary schools get text books donated by organizations. At primary school there are already drop outs even though there are no fees. The main reason for this are family responsibilities (like working in agriculture or fishing), early pregnancies and marriage, but also lack of food at home (so the child does not have enough energy to be able to follow all classes).

There are a lot of programs that try to solve these issues with food programs, hygiene and girls protection programs at the primary schools. A good example is the UN JPGE program (United Nations Joint program for Girls Education) which is focused on the districts of Mangochi, Dedza and Salima as the drop out in these lakeshore districts are the highest compared to the rest of Malawi.

At secondary schools there are also drop outs due to family responsibilities, pregnancies and marriage, but by far the main reason children drop out (or simply do not continue after primary school) is they simply cannot afford to pay the fees.

Therefore the Chiweta Children Foundation supports students with secondary school fees.

For National Boarding schools the fees per year are about MWK 300 000 (about USD 410)
For District Boarding schools the fees per year are about MWK 150 000 ((about USD 205)
For Community Day schools the fees per year are about MWK 45 000 (about USD 60)

This is an average as some schools are sponsored by the government, the church and/or other donors.

In the Salima district there are 13 Community Day Secondary Schools and 2 District Boarding Schools (Salima and Chipoka). There are no National Boarding Schools in Salima. If a child of one of the 162 primary schools in Salima is selected for this school level he or she has to go to a school in another district. If there is no place at the Salima or Chipoka District Boarding School sometimes there will be place in a nearby district as well for children selected for this level.