CDSS Engagement

In March 2011, AGE Africa selected 20 new AGE scholars at Nsala Community Day Secondary School in rural Zomba district.

Why CDSS Schools?

“AGE believes, that there is both an intrinsic and practical value for secondary education particularly for girls. We also recognize that there is a much greater need as well as broader opportunity for impact at CDSS’s compared to boarding schools”

Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS’s) are the most under-resourced and typically lowest-performing type of publicly funded secondary school in Malawi. As such, CDSS graduation rates often rest around 20-40% (compared to 90+% at the top tier Grant-Aid Secondary Schools like Providence & St. Michael’s). The challenges girls face at CDSS’s include distance traveled to school (often 10K or more), extreme rural poverty, lack of educated female roles models, gender discrimination, lack of qualified teachers and materials, and gender-based violence.

To combat these and other factors, AGE is committed to expanding operations into the CDSS system to reach a broader base of students. Girls at these schools often represent a greater level of need and thus an increased opportunity for life-long impact. Unlike boarding schools where students come from all over Malawi, CDSS schools are community-based and allow AGE Africa the opportunity to impact gender equity at the local and regional level.

What are our goals?

Over three to five years, we hope to have developed a comprehensive scholarship fund for CDSS students, improve their performance on the MSCE (high school exit examinations), increase AGE scholars’ retention rates and level of safety, improve the quality and school capacity of our CDSS partners, and build the confidence of our students. Our immediate goals: increase retention and completion of our students in high school, and give them vital knowledge and skills to be self-advocates and make informed life choices.

How will we do it?

AGE Scholars' uniforms being made by the local tailor

To achieve our goals, we have charted out a five-step interventions plan.

1. Provide scholarships to girls that have demonstrated need and academic potential. AGE scholarships are comprehensive and include school supplies, uniforms, and personal hygiene supplies.
2. Work to ensure each scholar’s safety by providing secure transportation to school (such as purchasing bicycles) and connecting each girl with an adult female mentor to act as a resource and safety net.
3. Provide peer-led Life Skills education programs that will reduce dropout girls’ due to early marriage and pregnancy, build self-esteem and leadership capacity, and improve students academic skills in school.
4. Provide Career Guidance workshops, which expose girls to a variety of career paths and women who work in them, and teach girls how to access a range of options post-secondary school.
5. School & community engagement. AGE will engages the community around our CDSS’s to develop a relationship to ensure program success. Working first with the community-based School Management Committees (PTA), the school’s administration, and local chiefs, AGE Africa works to ensure that our program’s are community supported and maximizing our opportunities for student success.

What can you do to help?

It costs less than $500 to send one of our CDSS scholars to school for one year. With your support we can continue to give these girls a safe and quality education. Please donate today—your contribution can change one girl’s life forever.

Thank you!