3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him……
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing — 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern…. 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt…. 36…. the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. — Genesis 37:3, 23-4, 27-28, 36
This past week, Malawi’s new president, Professor Peter Mutharika announced that his government will from January 2026 implement free secondary school education.
The announcement was made at the Mulakho wa Alomwe cultural festival in Mulanje’s Chonde, citing that the initiative aims to eliminate absenteeism due to school fees, thereby empowering Malawi’s youth.
It is also part of his administration’s vision to remove financial barriers that keep many students out of school for a variety of reasons.
This is a brilliant and welcomed initiative that should be supported by all Malawians, especially the public and private sectors in Malawi.
Decisions that parents make have long-term impacts, both good and sometimes bad, on their children.
My paternal grandparents’ move from Ntcheu to Blantyre had the impact of enabling my father and his siblings to receive great education by missionaries at HHI and Girls’ School.
My mother’s father’s decision to go to Bulawayo (in current Zimbabwe), made my mother to live with her brother in Blantyre and she became the first among three girls to reach standard 6.
Upon his marriage to my mother, my father burst into political activism joining former physician-turned political agitator Kamuzu Banda fighting for freedom of the country.
Such a choice of loyalty led to my family (Dad, Mom, my four siblings and me) moving first to Great Britain (currently known as the UK), then New York, and finally Ethiopia. During these years, my siblings and I enjoyed receiving some of the best and free education.
Our parents made sure that we loved education, and to get out of it as much as we could. For this we are truly grateful. This gratitude is bestowed on President Mutharika for the foresight in introducing free secondary education in the country.
Such gratitude also goes to our other national parents – the presidents the country has been fortunate to have. In wanting to get Malawians in step with other scholars around the world, first parent Dr. Kamuzu Banda made university education free.
Following his footsteps the second Malawi parent, Dr. Bakili Muluzi made primary education free. Knowing that you can’t learn on an empty stomach, Bingu wa Mutharika introduced free fertilizer (one year) and coupon system for purchasing subsidized fertilizer and other farm implements.
Not to be outdone, Mama President Joyce Banda introduced free cows per household to boost the husbandry industry in Malawi (cows were a gift from Botswana.
While all these grand and brilliant initiatives have been introduced, there has still been the gap in meeting that old song “Education for All” drummed up by the United Nations.
It saddened me that while I have enjoyed an enviable sailing in the corridors of learning (that included my father pulling me out of US college to come and learn at Chancellor College – which was free tuition cost during the time I was admitted there), the country was filled with stories of many children – young girls and boys – that were left on the wayside unable to remain in school because of the financial burden the school system was in the country.
The result of the education system leaving many children behind in the learning highway was that many of them ended up either as street vendors in the informal market, others (mostly girls) in early, and sometimes forced marriages, or domestic workers; and some other young people ended up in illegal activities that got them in trouble with the law.
The media is full of reports of the results of parents failing to pay school fees, others selling all their life stock to send a son to school.
The Mutharika initiative of introducing free secondary education added to the free primary education is a great boost to Malawi’s prospects for development. This is because educating children is a sure way to secure certain progress for our leaders of tomorrow.
Because educated manpower feeds into the country’s industries (in all the sectors), this is a big clarion call to them, to stand tall in this project and fight their way to be the first enterprise, company or firm, to make financial contributions into the Mutharika Free Secondary School Initiative.
Private sector companies, corporations, NGOs, banks, farming industrial companies, shops, freight companies, anyone that uses Malawi man and woman power, own up and fall in line to help the government to finance the education of your future employee.
As Malawi moves forward with the Mutharika Free Secondary School Initiative, one thing should be for sure: the future of Malawi’s youth is brighter than ever!
The post My Take On It: Parents’ decisions have long-term effects on children appeared first on The Maravi Post.