As one way of controlling high dropout  rate among girls in Secondary School, Civil Society Organization,(CSOs) in the 58th  session of the United Nation (UN) Commission on the Status of Women held in New York have agreed to lobby for free Secondary Education, more especially in the countries where dropout rates among girls are high, like Malawi.

National Coordinator of the Forum for African Women Educationalists in Malawi Mrs. Hendrina Givah said the CSOs believe that the introduction of free secondary education in Malawi would help in dealing with school dropout cases especially among girls.

“We did agree as Civil Society Organizations that if our governments can make secondary school education free, we are going to make a big head way,” said Givah.

Principal Secretary in the ministry of gender, children and community development Dr. Mary Shawa said government welcomes the idea.

 Shawa said annually, they receive requests for financial support for education from girls, with the numbers ranging from 5 thousand to 20 thousand.

According to the World Bank, only 27% of Malawi’s girls enroll in secondary school, of which only a fraction graduate.

Currently, primary school education is free to all students in Malawi after it was introduced in 1994.