•SPORTS, Youth and Child Development Minister Emmanuel Mulenga (right) talks to Ndola Girls Technical School pupil Chanda Kabaso (second left) in the company of Margaret Mwewa (second right) who was accompanied by her mother Grace Mwewa. This is when Margaret reported for school after the minister paid her school fees. Picture by MUSONDA MANGILASHI
By MUSONDA MANGILASHI –
ACCESS to quality education remains a pipe dream for many vulnerable children and young people of school going age in Zambia.
Suffice to mention that under privileged children have inadequate access to basic fundamentals of human rights which include quality education.
This is as a result of lacking sponsorship resulting in a vicious cycle of perpetual poverty at household level.
Life of 15-year-old Margaret Mwewa of Lusaka’s Mtendere Township has been full of uncertainty and worry before she met Youth, Sports and Child Development Minister Emmanuel Mulenga who offered to meet her expenses for school requirements.
Margaret found luck after Mr Mulenga developed interest to interact with the girl and inquire what she was doing in the streets at night.
Margaret met Mr Mulenga after 21:00 hours as she was selling avocado pears to motorists in Kabulonga.
The 15-year-old, who wants to be a medical doctor, narrated how she struggling to raise money for her school expenses before her luck changed when she met the minister.
She explained that she used to sell avocado pears and groundnuts to raise money for her primary education because she wanted to see herself become an independent woman in future.
Margaret said she started selling in the streets after she realized that her parents could not pay her school fees and after realizing that her dream of becoming an educated and independent woman
in future was going to die.
She said sometimes the money she raised from vending would be used to provide foodstuff for the family and sometimes she helped her mother to pay for rent.
She went on the streets to sell avocado pears after classes.
“I started selling in the streets after my parents failed to pay for my school fees and I really wanted to go to school. I used to sell avocados and groundnuts after classes,” she said.
She explained that pupils normally knocked at from school at 16:00 hours, but she used to ask her teacher to allow her to knock off earlier than her friends so that she could have time to go and raise money for school.
When asked why her parents were allowing her to go in the street to sell, she said her father was a drunkard who cannot provide for the family.
“My father comes back home in a drunken state and he comes with a K2 which he used to give to my mother for what was needed at home and whatever he came with could not take care of the family needs,” Margaret said.
Margaret narrated her story when Mr Mulenga recently enrolled her at Ndola Girls Technical Boarding School.
Margaret, who was accompanied to school by her mother, is thankful for the support she has been receiving from the time she met Mr Mulenga.
She assured the Sports minister of doing her best at school.
Mr Mulenga, who is also Ndola Central Member of Parliament (MP), said supporting vulnerable children with education will help to build their abilities to stand on their own.
Mr Mulenga said supporting vulnerable children, especially girls, with education will guarantee their independence in future.
Speaking when he took the 15-year-old Margaret of Lusaka to Ndola Girls Technical School, Mr Mulenga said it is the responsibility of citizens to ensure that vulnerable people in need of education are helped.
Mr Mulenga, who has and committed himself to sponsor Margaret’s secondary and tertiary education until she’s independent, said it is only education that can help a person to become independent.
The minister said he has taken the responsibility of supporting the girl up to university level because her parents have not been able to fund her education.
“I met Margaret Mwewa in 2019 around 22:00 hours when she was selling avocados and since then, I have taken up the responsibility of meeting her school requirements,” he said.
Mr Mulenga said last year, Margaret wrote her Grade Seven examination and passed and after realizing that she is a brilliant girl, he decided to take her to Ndola Girls Technical School so that she can concentrate, bearing in mind that she is not in a conducive environment where she is coming from.
He said he has been called in politics to serve people and helping a girl means that the entire community is educated and the nation at large.
Ndola Girls’ National Technical School Deputy Head Teacher Chanda Kabaso said the school will always support girls and assure them of quality education.
Education is one of the most critical areas of empowerment for girls and women.
It is also an area that offers some of the clearest examples of discrimination that women suffer.
Offering girls basic education is one sure way of giving them power to make genuine choices over the kinds of lives they wish to lead.
Educating girls is critical to the development of society.
A famous African proverb says if you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.
Educating a girl changes her destiny, as well as the destinies of her future children and ensures that she can contribute to the economic life of her community.
Having a sponsor who cares for and encourages her to stay in school, and also gives her confidence that she can achieve her dreams, is life-changing for Margaret.
