Examining the Role of Governmental and Non-Governmental Stakeholders in the Provision of Education to Scavenger Children: A Case of the Lilongwe City Garbage Site

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO) Malawi Demographic & Health Survey, (MDHS), (2024), 28% of women and 37% of men have attended secondary school or higher; 7% of women and 5% of men have no formal education, with poorer ones being more likely to be out of school and lack access to education. The purposes of this study are to examine the role of stakeholders (line ministries) in the provision of education to scavenger children who frequent the Lilongwe City garbage site for their survival and neglect school. The conceptual framework used in the study assumes that if the relevant stakeholders are engaged in the provision of education and equitable service delivery to all scavenger children, there will be reduced school dropout rates, reduced crimes and violence commonly associated with the garbage community. The study adopted a sequential mixed research method approach following a case study research design so that the 4 objectives of the study could be achieved in response to the 3 research questions. The main theory guiding the study is the Anomie/Strain theory whereas other minor theories have been explained and linked to the study with reference to the lifestyle of scavenger children on their communities and access to education. The researcher conducted the study using face-to-face and online interviews on 266 participants. For the quantitative component, it involved in depth interviews for 26 stakeholders, (Ministry of Education and Ministry of Gender), 24 Donor Partners, 15 Implementing Partners, 122 community members, 23 Primary School Management, 20 Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) management and 18 opted not to respond. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 6 participants for each group for school managers, PTA members, teachers and community leaders. Qualitative data was analyzed using inductive thematic and descriptive analysis for observations from the checklist interviews FGDs. Quantitative data was analyzed using version 20 of SPSS, Stata14 and Nnivo version 12. Results of the study indicate that the relevant governmental and non-governmental stakeholders in education have not done much and neglected scavenger children at Lilongwe City garbage site by not providing conducive environment, Guidance and Counselling (G & C) and motivation for scavenger children to get access to quality and equitable education. Findings from quantitative data indicate that provision of meals, educational resources and appropriate G & C will help reduce the maladies such as crimes, truancy and child labor which are rampant around the Lilongwe City garbage site.