Apatseni Mwayi Atsikana Aphunzire (AMAA)

AMAA is a four-year project implemented in five districts across Malawi: Mzimba, Balaka, Machinga, Phalombe, and Chikwawa. The project targets over 60,000 girls in both upper primary and secondary schools. AMAA has four main outcomes: (1) to improve the ability of girls to affect change in self and others; (2) to enhance the creation of an enabling environment for girls’ adolescent development and education achievement; (3) to strengthen the quality of teaching; and (4) improve access to secondary schools. AMAA is delivering district-specific activities in Malawi to mitigate particular barriers to girls’ enrollment and retention in school. In the districts of Balaka and Machinga, the project will construct 11 Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS) – 5 in Machinga and 6 in Balaka – and provide scholarships to vulnerable boys and girls in each new school. NORC’s evaluation and research of the AMAA program will be limited to the secondary school construction interventions implemented in these two districts and will focus on both girls and boys.