Officials in a Lilongwe school zone think student grades might get better because of a donation drive. The tech company Itel Mobile gave out stuff like notebooks and school bags to top students at a couple of primary schools, with plans to hit more in the area. Their marketing manager, Chifundo Mitole, said the point is to get kids to show up and try harder, maybe even helping average students and orphanages later.
The idea came from a local youth group called Kusintha Kwafika Movement. Their guy Joe Mwase pointed out that bad attendance and low scores showed they needed to give kids a reason to compete in class. Teachers there blame poverty and kids skipping school for manual labor, especially boys, for the lousy results, saying these rewards could keep them around.
A student named Elvis Chimowa who got one of the awards, said it pumped him up to study more, calling it his first ever prize for schoolwork. The program covers nineteen schools in that district so far.
The idea came from a local youth group called Kusintha Kwafika Movement. Their guy Joe Mwase pointed out that bad attendance and low scores showed they needed to give kids a reason to compete in class. Teachers there blame poverty and kids skipping school for manual labor, especially boys, for the lousy results, saying these rewards could keep them around.
A student named Elvis Chimowa who got one of the awards, said it pumped him up to study more, calling it his first ever prize for schoolwork. The program covers nineteen schools in that district so far.
