RIPPLE Africa runs a secondary school bursary scheme which provides full scholarships to help children attend secondary school in Malawi. In Malawi, primary school is free, however children are required to pay school fees for secondary school, which can range from as low as £20 a year to £700 a year at elite boarding schools and sometimes even higher! Even at the lowest rates, many families struggle to send their children to secondary school at all. It is no wonder that secondary school enrolment in Malawi is just 13%, and that drop out rates are extremely high (in the Nkhata Bay District, 11.7% for boys, and a whopping 20.1% for girls!) The most universal reason for such high drop outs and such low enrolment across Malawi is prohibitive school fees (for more information, please read the section about Secondary Education in Malawi, Africa, on the General Information About Education in Malawi page).
RIPPLE Africa runs the Secondary School Bursary Scheme as a project between Mwaya Primary School and Kapanda Secondary School, where students earn their full scholarship to Kapanda based upon their results from the Primary School Leaving Certificate, and a teacher assessment of their commitment and work ethic throughout their final year. RIPPLE Africa sponsors around 40 students, and accepts around 10 new students to the programme each year. For extremely gifted children, RIPPLE Africa also provides full sponsorships to government boarding schools for the special cases where students have been individually selected by the government to attend. These students are selected on a case-by-case basis only, and children are not always selected for this unique opportunity every year. RIPPLE Africa would love to extend the Secondary School Bursary Scheme to all our primary schools. However, we need passionate donors who are willing to make a commitment to these special and dedicated children.
Children in Malawi face many hardships. However, there is nothing more heartbreaking than meeting a really gifted child who has all the potential in the world, but, due to their financial situation, is too poor to attend secondary school. Secondary school is something which many people in the world take for granted, but in Malawi it is a treasured opportunity of which most children can only dream. RIPPLE Africa believes that poverty should never be a deterrent to receiving a quality education! Our Bursary Scheme gives opportunities to children who have earned their chance, and because our scheme is based on merit, the scheme is fair and rewards children with the potential to succeed, as well as recognising their commitment and hard work. RIPPLE Africa’s Secondary School Bursary Scheme gives hope to hundreds of children who have an equal chance to earn their scholarship each year. Helping to sponsor a child to attend secondary school is one of the most rewarding donations you will ever make.
Donors who wish to sponsor a child are taking on a special commitment over the full period of that child’s education, which is usually four years. We would like donors to pay either monthly or annually. Donors can choose to learn about the student they are sponsoring and see a photo of their student, although we are not able to support penpal agreements. Please consider changing a child’s life forever.
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