Turning my words into a future for girls in Malawi
How subscribing to my Substack will make a difference to girls in one of the world's poorest countries
As girls in Scotland go back to school this week, there are thousands in Malawi who will not be able to enjoy their first day at secondary school next month.
Girls around the world continue to face unprecedented challenges to their education, and nowhere is that more pressing than Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world.
Malawi’s population is now approaching 20 million, with half under 18, that is five million girls, most of whom live in extreme poverty.
Even the most basic secondary education is not free. The annual fees for Community Day Secondary Schools, which most young people attend, was 51,000 MK (£50) a year in 2022-2023. Other fees, uniforms, text books and transport can double that, making the cost to a family of sending a girl to school around £120 a year.
To put that in context, a single mother with several children will earn around £1 day for “casual” agricultural labour, which means she has to spend one quarter of her annual household income to send one child to secondary school. The latest population statistics show a woman in Malawi can expect to have six children.
Secondary education is for four years, with a final set of exams at the end of Form 4 – the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE). Students who pass this examination qualify for selection into public and private colleges and universities. And employers in the formal labour market favour applicants with an MSCE.
The global pandemic made the situation even worse for girls. Malawi closed its schools in March 2020 for six months as part of its COVID-19 lockdown. Schools have since re-opened, but their closure led to an unexpected surge in teenage pregnancies, and a significant number of girls dropping out of education – which puts many of them at risk of early marriage. The recent cost of living crisis in Malawi, which has seen inflation exceeding 25 per cent, has only exacerbated the situation.
The provision of scholarships is increasingly seen as the most practical way to support girls to complete their education. UNICEF currently supports 5,000 girls in Malawi and CAMFED has pioneered support for girls’ education across Eastern Africa. And you can help too.
I am fundraising for the McConnell International Foundation’s Keep Girls in School programme. I can’t run marathons, I wouldn't even dream about doing a parachute jump, but I can write. Over a year, your subscription will keep one girl in school. 100 subscribers will support 50 girls. Not a bad return for the price of couple of coffees.
In return for your support, every Monday you will get my Scotsman column that was published at the weekend, and every Friday I will post an exclusive Substack article. It might be about Scotland’s continuing campaign against self ID or a dispatch from a school in Malawi (where I am going in October). It will always be about women and girls.