Embassy of Japan in Malawi
在マラウイ日本国大使館
Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects
Grant Contract Signing Ceremony at Edingeni Community Day Secondary School in Mzimba District
August 31, 2015
On Monday, 31st August 2015, His Excellency Shuichiro Nishioka, the Ambassador of Japan to Malawi and Mr Pauper Mkandawire Acting Education Division Manager for Northern Education Division signed a contract for the Project for the Construction of Twin Girls’ Hostels at Edingeni Community Day Secondary School in Mzimba District under the Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects. The ceremony was held at the Embassy of Japan and was graced by Hon Vincent Ghambi M.P., Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Technology.
Education is the foundation of nation building. Universal access to education is very important for empowering people and for the socio-economic development of a country. In Malawi, the government and various development partners have invested a lot toward universal education. Despite these efforts, girls still have limited access to education and face difficulty in continuing with their education. The case is the same with Edingeni CDSS, where the current dropout rate is currently at 17.44 percent, which is more than twice the national average of 8.1 percent in 2012. Some contributing factors to the increased dropout rate at the school include; long distances from home to school where some students walk as far as 15km to get to school on time, domestic work, early marriages and early pregnancies. In order for the girls at Edingeni CDSS to continue studying at school without such disturbances, through grant amounting to US$136,498 from the Government of Japan, Northern Education Division will construct a twin girls’ hostel accommodating 112 girl students and procure 56 bunk beds and 112 mattresses.
Speaking during the ceremony, Ambassador Nishioka expressed that this project can enable the girls to stay in school and complete secondary education. He also mentioned Prime Minister Abe’s initiative on women’s empowerment, “a society in which women shine” in line with the empowerment of women, and said that he believes that this project will lead to the empowerment of women in Malawi.
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