MISSED SCHOOL: MALARIA THREATENS POTENTIAL BY TAKING CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL

School Teacher Aziza in Kenya shares the reality of teaching children who are held back by a treatable and preventable disease.

“Malaria has interfered with my students as absenteeism has been high, because once they are sick, they cannot attend classes. And with that it has lowered their academic standards.”

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Aziza’s role as a teacher is greatly impacted by malaria, Aziza often has very sick children in her classes that require urgent hospital treatment, which can be very stressful for her and other students who see their classmates very sick with malaria. This was the case with one of her students and Aziza had to rush her to hospital.

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“Malaria is a killer disease, and we need to take control of it.”

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School absenteeism has a significant impact to learning outcomes for children with many having to repeat a year and exams. 

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Aziza shares, “It is common that children must repeat a class as they are not ready to move to the next level.” 

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Malaria is holding back a generation of children from developing to their full potential. The effects are not just felt now, day-to-day but also have the potential to dramatically affect future earning potential.
Investing in malaria and the Global Fund means healthier children able to fulfil their potential and in the long-term it supports the wider community development and growth.