Malawi: Clear Organises Trophies to Assist Child Labour Elimination in Tobacco Fields in Ntchisi

Source from:  Malawi24 12/12/2014

Child Labour Elimination For Real Change (CLEAR) staff in Ntchisi this week organized football and netball trophies around Makanda Education Zone in the district as one way of withdrawing children from tobacco fields and send them back to school.

The education's programms officer for CLEAR, Enea Nkhoma said the project is able to fight child labour and sending children back to school using sporting activities.

Said Nkhoma: "Since the inception of sporting activities in our impact areas of Makanda and Mpalo, school enrollment has boomed and most children who were working in tobacco fields have gone back to school due to the sporting activities taking place in their education zones."

He said alot of children are attracted with different sporting activities in their zones.

Nkhoma said the sporting activities have increased the hours that children stay in the schools thereby preventing them from going into tobacco fields after knocking off from classes.

The zone's sports chairman Leonard Jamikele said the sporting activities component in CLEAR project has reduced child labour in the area as most children stay in class so that they have fun with sporting activities afternoon hour after classes.

Jamikele said, "Sports has increased school enrollment in this zone and thanks to CLEAR for organizing the trophies in the zone as this will improve sports and promote talents among children."

On his part, Ntchisi Desk officer for sports at District Education Managers office, Hudson Mkwezalamba thanked CLEAR project for introducing sports project in the district because this will assist learners in primary schools in terms of sports and drop outs in their schools will be low as the dropouts are now coming back to school just because they are playing football and netball.

Mkwezalamba has asked CLEAR to continue assisting the Ministry Of Education and has also asked other Non Governmental Organisations to assist the remaining 12 zones in the district.

CLEAR award the winners in football and netball trophies with balls and uniforms for their teams.

CLEAR is a consortium of Non Governmental Organisations namely Save the children, Creccom, Total Land Care and YONECO implementing its projects in Ntchisi, Mchinji and Mzimba and is expected to phase out in December 2015. Enditem