Low patronage for adult literacy classes in Lilongwe

District Community Development Officer for Lilongwe, Annie Kamwendo has bemoaned the low patronage of adult literacy classes in the district.

Adult literacy class
Adult literacy class

Speaking during the commemoration of the district’s Adult Literacy Day at Chikanga School in the area of Chief Chadza Wednesday, Kamwendo said it is discouraging to note that most people who do not know how to read and write do not attend Adult Literacy classes despite the high illiteracy levels in the district.

“Lilongwe as a district has a 40 percent illiteracy rate while the national illiteracy rate is 36 percent, as a district we have tried to establish as many adult literacy schools as possible but people are not interested to attend them,” said Kamwendo.

She said the district has a total of 594 adult literacy schools and has just established 24 new ones in Traditional Authorities Njewa and Kalumbu which are offering lessons in English.

She attributed the low patronage to a number of factors, among them lack of interest among the people themselves and shortage of adult literacy facilitators.

“Adult Literacy facilitators lack motivation as they get a very small amount of money as their honoraria which is currently at K1,000 per month, this is obviously not enough and it has resulted in us losing most of the facilitators otherwise we would like to have adult literacy schools almost in every village,” said Kamwendo.

Ester Ganasio from Nyamazani Village in TA Chadza who received a certificate on the day said she is now happy that she is able to read and write after attending classes in her area.

National Literacy Day is commemorated every year on September 8.

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man anjala
8 years ago

guys real k 1000 per month? khoma amalawi ndiwokwiyatu. ndapanga kale masamu. k1000 by 30 days=k33.33 pasiku.kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Peter Ibu Lhomwe
Peter Ibu Lhomwe
8 years ago

UDF stands for UKAFUNA DEAL FULUMIRA. The young man Atupele knows that his dad ruined Malawi because of handouts. How can he oppose it?? We need to open our eyes and see if there is a country in Africa or the world that excelled through handouts. Education and health are key components of development than handouts. Whatever the case may be Malawi government cannot manage to build houses for 15 million people. What we have currently in Malawi are structural problems that require structural solutions and not short term solutions.

Marduk
Marduk
8 years ago

It’s a brilliant idea, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect people to afford k1000 like that. Things are already tough. Maybe make a collective cost for the TA to foot? Or better yet the government could sponsor this.

Literacy is a very, very strong asset for a country to have.

The Analyst
The Analyst
8 years ago

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Come on guys! Let us not enslave one another! K1000 a month? Chipongwetu ichi! Opportunity cost mmaidziwa inu? Who, even in the name of malipiro ali kumwamba, can commit themselves to the facilitatorship, hoping to receive K1000 after a month? We people lack seriousness. And its surprising that you are surprised its not working out. Coz a normal human being can’t be surprised when the problem is there for the naked eye to see. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Also, we need to accept that there is always a right time for everything. Its much easier to build up a future than make… Read more »

Thanduxolo
Thanduxolo
8 years ago

Koma ndiye kuli chapwa!

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