By Vincent Gunde

The Rays of Hope is a Non-Governmental Organization that uses a transformative education model to build teachers’ capacity, support learners, and provide financial inclusion solutions to youth for productive life.  It nurtures children and youth with abilities essential for life management, academic excellence, and spiritual development to become competent leaders. 

The organization  envisioned every child and youth access to transformative education.
In partnership with Phillip Moris International (PMI), and in a consortium with CYECE and AGE Africa, Rays of Hope implements a Holistic Opportunity for Pupil Excellence (HOPE) Project, a tutor led tutoring initiative in Dowa District targeting standards 5 to 8 learners from Mtsilo, Kalonga, Senga, Chulu, Simbi, Kalikulu and Chambizi primary schools. 

This initiative will complement the already existing project called ‘End to End Scholarships’ which is supported by Phillip Morris International.
Presenting the initiative to the District executive committee (DEC) in Dowa, Rays of Hope’s Programs Manager, Mr. John Zakeyo, provided a rationale for the project HOPE Project saying that the current number of learners in the targeted schools selected to national and district level secondary schools (2024 PSLCE results) only stood at 2.1% and 6% respectively. The majority, 86.3% were selected to community day secondary schools.  End to End Scholarship Program supports learners who are selected to dissent secondary schools and currently the number of  students who make it are low as highlighted above.

Mr. Zakeyo further said his organization will complement the efforts of the schools by providing free tutoring lessons to the learners after school hours and strengthen teachers capacities to enable them teach well.  He further said that the HOPE initiative is designed to increase chances of secondary school selection of learners in senior primary school classes in the  selected schools in Kasungu and Dowa.  Ultimately, the project will contribute to high completion and retention rate of learners in higher primary school sections in Dowa and Kasungu districts.  An increase in learners selected to district and national secondary schools means more learners benefiting from secondary school End to End Scholarships.

In his remarks, Dowa District Council’s Acting Chief Planning Officer Yusuf Laki welcomed the program into the district appealing to partners to support it so that it reaches out to all the intended beneficiaries in the district. Laki called on partners to share progress of the projects which are being implemented in the district and signing Memorandum of Understandings with the Council and the CSO Network to enhance cooperation, transparency and accountability purposes.

Phillip Morris International (PMI) will fund the implementation of the program with an annual budget of 71,000 US Dollars for  the two districts of Dowa and Kasungu.