Malawi: Harmful cultural practices undermine girl’s education

M`bwana Kawinga, Machinga District, Malawi, 26 November 2015: Harmful cultural practices are one of the major factors contributing to inequitable schooling environments in Malawi. It takes three months for children in Group Village M`bwana Kawinga in Machinga district to attend initiation camps resulting in a lot of children failing to start school at the appropriate time.

Girls following initiation school are given away in marriage as they are regarded as adults following the start of menstruation. According to Abiti Paulo, one of the initiation counsellors in the village, the cultural practice is done for a period of three months, following which “girls from initiation camps were given a chance to get married.”

Research reveals that harmful cultural practices add to girls continued disadvantage in accessing education as they tend to household chores. Some are forced into early marriages.

A 2015 Education for All (EFA) report states that 100 million children do not finish primary education. According to a UN – Women 2015-2016 Progress report, poverty deepens gender disparity in primary school education completion.

Despite overall progress in reducing gender disparity in primary attainment since 2002, the poorest girls still face sever disadvantages in entering and completing primary education (EFA – 2015 report.

Although Malawi is nearing gender parity in primary education, the Malawi Education Commission report 2014, showed that 11% of girls in standard five and 15% of girls in standard eight dropped out of school.

Statistics from Malawi show fewer girls than boys in secondary school. Early marriage is a serious problem; most girls marry before reaching the end of secondary school. Earlier this year the government passed a law that revised the legal marriage to 18 years. But it may take many years before the law is translated into reality.

As we commemorate the Sixteen Days of Activism under the theme Peace Begins at Home Make Educations Safe for all, all governments need to ensure a safe and equitable, health risk and violence free learning environment.

Paulo says there was a time when children were not allowed to go to schools due to fear of Christian ideologies threatening societal cultural and traditional values. Other factors such as long distances between school and home threaten the girl child accessing school.

In Mphimbi Village of Balaika district Malawi, the river ‘Utale” divides the community and the local school. Girl children are seen as vulnerable to elements on the way to school. There is a cultural belief in that village that girls attending school are cursed. In 2012-2013 Utale region reported a 30% drop out of girls in upper primary school. In 2014-2015 the percentage doubled.

A safe learning environment requires commitment from parents of pupils and the community at large to form a strong partnership that tackles specific concerns in the school.

M`bwana Kawinga village has managed to promote education through discussion meetings with initiation camps authorities, teachers, parents and local civil society organisations working in the village. Initiation camps have been moved to two weeks prior to school opening date effectively in Machinga and Balaka districts.

The community initiation schools have also begun to promote the importance of education as a human right. “Initiation camps now encourage children to attend school, emphasising the advantages of education and its importance”, says Paulo.

The Director of Programmes at the M`bwana centre of creative community mobilisation says “modifying cultural practices has been a milestone in achieving equal representation of girls and boys in schools”. The community is championing the global campaign to reduce the gender gap within education and overall national literacy. Small steps like this offer hope for the post 2015 agenda that promises education for all – boys and girls.

(Jane Changwada a journalist with Radio Maria Malawi. This article is part of a special series for the Sixteen Days of Activism being produced by the Gender Links New Service).