6 Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older, he will remain upon it. – Proverbs 22:6
15 The Jewish leaders were surprised when they heard him. “How can he know so much when he’s never been to our schools?” they asked. – John 7:15
This is an Open Letter to Lawrence Francis O’Donnell Jr. (America’s prolific television anchor, actor, author, screenwriter, political commentator, and host of The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell on MS Now), music icons Madonna and Rihanna, nurse professional Dr. Ann Gloag, and tennis champion Roger Federer, to coordinate their education vibes.
The call is for these celebrated and well-known philanthropists to work with the Malawi Government under President Arthur Peter Mutharika’s 2026 education initiative. The initiative is to make secondary school education free in Malawi. A very tall but doable order for the Warm Heart of Africa, especially when one adds up all the philanthropists in the country working in some way in the sector.
What is the picture in front of the small land-locked southern Africa country?
My research revealed to me that there are approximately 950,000 to 990,000 children enrolled in secondary education in Malawi. Despite high primary school enrollment, only about 30% or less of learners at the secondary age level are enrolled in school, with significant barriers including school fees, distance, and limited infrastructure. Although primary school attendance is nearly universal, the sharp drop in enrollment at the secondary level highlights a major educational bottleneck in the country. There are over 5 million enrolled in Malawi primary school. There are 1,411 secondary schools compared to 6,065 primary schools.
Key details regarding secondary education in Malawi include:
· Total Enrollment: As of 2018–2022, secondary school enrollment was estimated at roughly 989,847 pupils.
· Low Transition Rates: Only about 38% to 41% of learners transition from primary to secondary education.
· Gender and Location Gaps: Only 10% of children from the poorest households complete lower secondary school. Girls face higher barriers, with roughly 6 out of 7 not enrolled in secondary school.
· School Types: While most students attend government schools, about 20% attend private, often lower-cost, secondary schools.
· Recent Trends: The government has taken steps to remove tuition fees in secondary schools to improve access to this higher-level education.
Malawi has a list of numerous celebrated star-studded philanthropists in its corner. The impressive list below is not exhaustive.
Madonna: Taking a lion’s share in the field, Madonna’s work started when she adopted one baby, came back for another, and then came back for twins; in total, the music icon has four children from Malawi. Added to her two biological children, Madonna has six children. Her work in the work is in four sectors:
1. Healthcare – The country’s first-and-only paediatric surgery and intensive care hospital, the Mercy James Centre is a free, public facility that provides the full spectrum of care for infants and children who are critically ill or injured, or who require complex surgery.
2. Education – Providing for their education and professional internships through scholarship & psychosocial support,
Raising Malawi has ensured each child has the training and tools they need for a professional pathway forward.
3. The Arts – Raising Malawi partners with the Jacaranda School for Orphans and Home of Hope Children’s Home, two grassroots
organizations that deliver essential residential and community-based care for more than 1,000 orphans.
4. Athletics – Raising Malawi highlights Ascent Soccer, East Africa’s premiere nonprofit football development program, to work with 100 boys and girls from Malawi, Uganda, Kenya and DRC.
Dame Ann Gloag is a philanthropist, nurse and business leader who has provided vital healthcare and support to women and children across Africa. As founder of Freedom From Fistula and the Gloag Foundation, she has helped over 200,000 women and children access free surgery, maternity care, outpatient care and health education. In Malawi, Ann Gloag founded the Fistula Care Centre at Bwaila Hospital and Freedom From Fistula also helps deliver safe childbirth services at two partner clinics.
Tennis Champion Roger Federer through the Roger Federer Foundation, works in Malawi to improve early childhood education, focusing on providing quality, sustainable, and child-friendly care for children aged 3–5. Since 2011, the foundation has collaborated with Action Aid to build hundreds of preschools, train caregivers, and support, aiming to reach 135,000 children.
Pop music idol, Rihanna has traveled to Malawi to help build a school. She worked alongside locals, even carrying water on her head, to support the project aimed at improving education for children in need. She is not just a pop star, but a real change-maker.
Enter Lawrence O’Donnell! Since 2010, UNICEF USA and UNICEF in Malawi have partnered with Lawrence O’Donnell, host of MS NOW’s “The Last Word,” to change the reality of school children learning while sitting on the floor. Through the Kids in Need of Desks (K.I.N.D) Fund, according to reports and O’Donnell himself stating so on his show, to date, the initiative has provided more than 405,000 desks and raised over $45 million for classrooms in Malawi. It has also supported nearly 38,000 scholarships for girls, helping them complete their secondary education.
The journey to the KIND initiative started when one day O’Donnell met his friend Meg who had visited schools around Malawi’s capital before 2010. She told O’Donnell that she had asked teachers what they needed most. Of course, the mind goes naturally to paper, pencils, and books. Nevertheless, Meg said, ‘They all said chairs.’ That was not anywhere near Meg’s list of what to expect. They were not even thinking about desks. They just wanted something to get kids off the floor!
Within moments of hearing that, O’Donnell found himself saying, ‘Well, we could get them chairs, couldn’t we?’ It just hit him. The deprivation was so extreme that even he felt like he could do something about it. AND HE DID.
For the past 16 years, O’Donnell has been working in Malawi, providing not only desks and chairs to Malawi schoolchildren, but scholarships for girls entering secondary education. On top of this, local carpenters in Malawi make all the chairs and desks, thus providing a livelihood for local entrepreneurs. Bravo Mr. O’Donnell! Bravo!
Now the time is ripe for the benevolent philanthropists to wrap around the idea of working with the Malawi Government to deliver on the new president’s grand initiative: Free Secondary education in Malawi. If by chance you already are working with Malawi on this brilliant initiative, I say, BRAVO!
