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Traditional Authority Khosolo of Mzimba District has commended African Parks (Malawi) for supporting education in his area. He said this on Tuesday in Mzimba during a meeting organised by African Parks to report on the progress of various activities they are implementing in the district. Among other projects, African Parks runs a student scholarship programme and provide teaching and learning materials to schools. The organisation also offers stipend to volunteer teachers working in public schools in the area. “Most schools in areas such as Mgoza and Kabua had few teachers. But the African Parks initiative has improved performance as it has addressed shortage of teachers in schools,” said Khosolo. He also said due to motivation of teachers in secondary schools, some students were selected to pursue various programmes in public universities. “Before African Parks started managing Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, many teachers were shunning schools in my area. As a result, most students were dropping out due to lack of teachers in schools. The provision of stipend to volunteer teachers has boosted numbers of teachers in the area,” said Khosolo. In his remarks, M’mbelwa District Council director of administration Viston Mulungu said the council values the social support that African Parks renders in Mzimba. African Parks community development manager Timothy Maseko expressed the organisation’s commitment to implementing social responsibilities to the area. He highlighted the need for Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve to work in collaboration with the communities around. “Reports indicated that people around Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve have low literacy levels. Therefore, African Parks thought it wise to introduce various education programmes to address the challenges,” he said. African Parks Malawi’s scholarship programme has benefitted students from Mzimba, Kasungu, Nkhotakota and Ntchisi to enrol in various secondary schools, technical colleges and universities.
