In a bid to help needy children to complete their education, traditional leaders in Karonga, on Saturday agreed to financially support such learners with money contributed by the community at group village headmen level.
The district traditional leaders reached this agreement during a meeting organized by Paramount Chief Kyungu at Karonga Museum Hall.
The decision was introduced by Kyungu, who said that many needy hardworking learners in the district are failing to go further with their education due to lack of financial support.
“We should not wait for government or organizations to bail out such learners. At the end of the day, Karonga district will benefit more from such learners, especially if they finish their education,” said Kyungu.
Before endorsing the proposal, traditional leaders held a heated debate on the project, especially on strategies to that would make it sustainable.
They then agreed to open the Karonga Education Trust Fund (KETF), a special account where all contributions would be deposited, and kept apart.
Each group village headman, will contribute K50,000 to the special account by the end of this year as a starting point.
“It does not mean that the group village headman will take the money from his pocket, but his subjects especially households after sensitization,” said Kyungu.
However, the chiefs did not agree whether the money should be contributed annually, as they referred the matter to a special steering committee for finalizing the operatives on the decision.
Speaking in a separate interview to Maravi Post, Kyungu said he was happy that the chiefs supported the idea.