Youths challenged to lead in improved education standards advocacy
Written by Ivy Tunkete Mwanyongo:
The Forum for African Women Educationalists in Malawi (FAWEMA) has challenged youths in the country to lead in advocacy, if systems said to be choking the education sector are to be addressed.
The Forum’s Executive Director, Wesley Chabwera said oftentimes, different stakeholders have been advocating for improved education standards, while youths themselves remain latent.
Chabwera was speaking Wednesday at the end of a two-day training of youths from Nkhata-Bay and Nkhotakota districts in Salima, aimed at equipping them with skills on how they can develop a transnational advocacy agenda, under the Kuyenda Collective project.
He said, “As a forum, we felt a need to train the youths on how they can develop transnational advocacy agendas, having noticed that most of them do not understand how their rights are infringed due to poor quality education standards, among others”.
“It’s high time youths in the country are equipped with advocacy skills for them to speak out on the challenges they face in the education sector. We’re hopeful that after the training, they will be able to advocate for challenges such as poor infrastructure, inadequate teaching and learning materials” added Chabwera.
Chabwera added that the trained youths will also be able to monitor resources that are allocated in the national budget to the education sector, as well as how the funds are utilized.
Nkhatabay District Youth Officer (DYO), Youngston Ngwira described the training as crucial in boosting young people’s knowledge in advocacy.
He said, “Despite that the training accommodated 8 youths among the targeted 45 in Nkhatabay, I still hope that the trained youths will bring a positive change in their respective groups by sharing the skills to others”.
One of the trained youths from Malamba Youth Network in Nkhatabay, Dalitso Mtaya commended that the training has boosted her knowledge, in as far as advocating for change in the education sector is concerned.
The Kuyenda project which will run until March next year, is being championed in four countries of Zimbambwe, Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi.