People of Matsukambiya Village, Traditional Authority Ngabu in Chikwawa District say they are failing to send their children to school due to lack of money to access transfer letters from the learners’ previous school.

The people were relocated in January 2022 following the destruction of their village during Tropical Storm Ana-induced floods.

In random interviews on Monday, the concerned parents said their children cannot continue going to their previous school due to long distance.

One of the parents Emily Lizimbo said her four children are not attending school because she has no money for processing their transfer letters.

Not attending school: The children at the new village in Chikwawa

She said: “I am supposed to pay K1 000 for each child to have their transfers processed from Chimbiya Primary School to Jombo Primary School which is near our new village.

“Currently, most of us are yet to adapt to the new environment, so right now the priority is food.”

Lizimbo said most people in the new village cannot raise K1 000 to pay for a transfer letter when the same can buy them food.

A tour around the village during school day established that at least 500 children were just loitering as some of their parents were away doing piecework (ganyu) for food.

When asked for his comment, Chikwawa district director of education, youth and sports Hendrix Likeke expressed ignorance on the matter.

He said it was against government’s policy to charge fees to process a learner’s transfer.

“We will look into the matter and find out what is happening, but I can assure you that government’s policy does not allow that,” said Likeke.

The new Matsukambiya Village is home to 401 households.

Following the destruction of homes by floods in January 2022, Chikwawa District Council advised villages in flood-prone areas to relocate to safer places.

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