Facts & Figures from Chambo Primary School

Sarah’s blog 19/11/24

Levison had been to visit the headteacher at Chambo Primary School this morning. I had asked him to ask for some figures regarding exam rate passes when he was there. I wanted to know, and be able to share, some actual figures in relation all the support that has been given to the students at Chambo Primary School over the last five years. Primary School Leavers Exams are a good way to do this.

Let’s remember that these students are amongst some of the most vulnerable in the whole of Malawi. Many are malnourished. All are hungry. Most have experienced trauma through family members dying. Lots of families have been affected by HIV. Many children are living with an elderly grandparent and are having to care for them as well as trying to get an education. Many people cannot afford to eat, let alone buy clothes and shoes for their children.

Lots of children miss huge chunks of school due to having to work for a pittance to help bring a small amount of money into the home to buy food. Many girls are at risk of being married off too young as families cannot afford to feed them. Girls were missing a week of school each month as they did not have any sanitary towels and had to stay at home. Life is so so hard for these children. Yet they continue to try their best. They know that education is their way out of the extreme poverty in which they live. Class sizes are large – there are approx 500 children across 8 classes at Chambo Primary.

In 2019, 59% of p8 students passed their primary school leavers exams. In 2020 and 2021 the figure was 60% for each of these years. In 2022 the figure rose to 63% pass rate. In 2023, 69% of students passed their exams and in 2024 that figure had risen to 78% of students passing their primary school leavers exams.

That is an amazing difference and we are delighted for the students. Here are some of the reasons that the headteacher and some of the teachers at Chambo Primary were able to attribute to the improvements and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped make all these changes happen:

The Feeding Programme. This runs once a week at the weekend and ensures that 500 of the most vulnerable children eat a substantial, nutritious meal once a week. Some children can go for days without eating properly so they know they will have this one meal to look forward to. However, children are walking long distances to access this feeding programme…some are walking 15km, even 20km. Some carry their toddler siblings much of the way to be fed. Feeding them just once a week isn’t good enough. However, it is all we can afford whilst we help them set up sustainable projects.
Clothes. Especially donated school uniform. Some months get quite cold overnight and many children do not have blankets and are sleeping on a mat on the floor. An outgrown school jumper and shorts/trousers or a skirt that have been donated can make all the difference to a child who has been wearing rags. They are warmer, look smarter and know that someone cares enough about them to want to help.
School Holiday Study Classes have made a big difference to students helping them to revise for exams and get help from teachers should they need it. Each p8 student who attended these lessons, that we financially supported for the past two years, has been given a free school lunch each day. This was a great incentive to turn up for extra lessons each day!
Thanks to grants we successfully applied for, Chambo Primary now has three classrooms with desks and benches (previously they only had one). We also facilitated the school to have clean drinking water and water for handwashing and provided buckets, soap, and cups for the students.
A girls’ latrine block was built with money from another grant. The girls now have dignity, privacy and safety when they need to relieve themselves. Previously they had to go in the bushes. Thanks to being given reusable sanitary towels, girls no longer miss a week of school every month. So the girls now can attend the same amount of lessons as the boys.
Exercise books & pens – students have been helped by receiving gifts of stationery.
School Literacy Project – We started with 17 boxes of preloved books that we gifted to Chambo Primary School, then more have been added. The books range from picture books with a few words for the lower school to more advanced stories for teenagers to enjoy. There have been dictionaries and many non fiction books donated too. The feedback has been great about how engaged students are with the books and colour pictures are really helping to ensure that the books are well used. In particular, girls have become more interested in books that they wouldn’t normally have been because of the pictures/photos. They see pictures of girls in subjects that would previously have been aimed at boys. We are excited to see how the School Literacy Project continues to make a difference as there are lots of boxes of books due to arrive early next year. Some of the boxes include group reading programmes that two primary schools local to me were updating. Having multiple copies of the same book will really be helpful in helping students become confident readers.
An orchard of fruit tree saplings is about to be planted at Chambo Primary thanks to another successful grant. This will help the students with practical agricultural lessons and will provide future food for the students as well as being good for the planet.

To give things a bit more context, the average pass rate for primary school leavers exams across the whole of Malawi was 86% in the 2024 exams. Chambo students will have to walk a lot further than the average. Chambo students and all the surrounding primary schools in the north do not have a big charity running a school feeding programme each day. These are just two ways they are at a huge disadvantage compared to the rest of the schools in Malawi. There will be so many children benefitting from a porridge programme. Sadly that isn’t the case for the forgotten children in the rural far north.

Yet, despite these issues they are succeeding. They are doing their best. They do want a good education to ensure they have a better future. They are attending school and working hard. We hope you agree that these children and young people are amazing and deserve a helping hand.

Again, a big thank you if you have donated to any of the above projects. We couldn’t do what we do without your help. You can see from the above that together we are Changing Lives (in) Malawi.

We are raising funds to help give the children a Christmas Party and an extra meal…will you help us please? https://donorsee.com/project/25004?share=1 Or you can email us to help with any of the above projects or anything else at contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Thank you again, Sarah x