Malawi: Citizen Alliance asks Malawi President to bail out needy students

Coalition of citizens and civil society groups locally known as Citizen Alliance has called upon the Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika who is also the Chancellor of the public universities to intervene and fully guide process of bailing out the needy students so that they complete their tertiary education to become independent and productive citizens for the country.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in the Capital City Lilongwe, Chair of the Citizen Alliance, who is also executive Director of the Eye For Development, Edward Chileka Banda said it is unfortunate that most young people are dropping out of University due to school fees.

«We recommend that University Loan scheme should primarily target applicants from public secondary schools the majority of which are from the less-privileged families and that Government should recapitalize the Education Loan scheme so that the needy students should quickly access the facility,»said Chileka Banda.

Banda said the drive to recover university loans must be sustained and supported by all.

Chileka called for the general public, citizens and organizations, to kindly respond to the scholarship crisis as part of social and corporate responsibility.

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«Citizen Alliance believes that, with collective action, the general public can help prevent the scholarship crisis from reaching disproportional levels, in the processing condemning many of our young people to vicious cycles of poverty.» said Banda.

Another member of the Alliance, Enock Phiri asked parents and guardians to prioritize education of their children in their spending too at the time the economy is facing challenges.

«We believe that the private sector and leaders at all levels should also bail out some students that are at risk of withdrawing due to financial problems. We also ask the beneficiaries of the University loan scheme to repay their loans to help recapitalize the loan fund for the benefit of students who already need the similar facility,» said Phiri.

Recently media reported that 50 Percent of students dropout at Luanar while 300 students faces withdrawal due to economic hardship.