Education authorities in Njewa Education Zone have expressed optimism that learner performance will improve following a corporate social responsibility initiative by Itel Mobile Malawi targeting public and private primary schools in the area.
The initiative, launched in Traditional Authority Njewa in Lilongwe, covers 19 schools within Lilongwe Machenga Constituency, comprising 13 government schools and six private institutions.
On Friday, Itel Mobile Malawi distributed notebooks, school bags, mathematical instruments and pens to the top three learners in Standards 6 to 8 at Mbabzi and Lingadzi primary schools, with plans to extend the same awards to the remaining 17 schools.
Itel Mobile Malawi Marketing Manager Chifundo Mitole said the programme was designed to motivate learners and improve school attendance, noting that the company intends to expand the initiative next year to include average-performing learners and orphanages.
The initiative was proposed by a community youth organisation, Kusintha Kwafika Movement, whose patron Joe Mwase said poor attendance and low pass rates in the zone had highlighted the urgent need for incentives to restore competition and academic ambition among learners.
Teachers in the area say poverty, absenteeism and lack of interest, particularly among boys who leave school for casual work, have contributed significantly to poor performance, adding that incentives can help keep learners in class and focused on their studies.
One beneficiary, Standard 7 pupil Elvis Chimowa of Mbabzi Primary School, said the award had inspired him to work harder, describing it as the first academic reward he had ever received.
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