Impact Evaluation of Malawi Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP)

This study critically examines the patterns of school enrolment and attendance among children in Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP)’s households, identifies barriers to attendance (monetary and non-monetary), and proposes policy options and programme design tweaks to help improve the programme’s educational impact. This situation motivated a new study to critically examine the patterns of school enrolment and attendance among children in SCTP households, identify barriers to attendance (monetary and non-monetary), and propose policy options and programme design tweaks to help improve the programme’s educational impact. A mixed methods study was commissioned in 2019 covering three districts: Salima, Mulanje and Nkhata Bay. Quantitative data were collected from randomly selected onethousand five hundred households in six randomly selected village. Clusters (two from each district). Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions with both in and out-of-school youth (15 to 24 years) and in-depth interviewers with caregivers in Salima and Mulanje. The Study recommends that: access to education for girls remains a major challenge among SCTP beneficiaries and provides the basis for dedicated policies to support girls. A higher school bonus for girls is commonly used in other cash transfer programmes and would be a straightforward option. Links with community mother’s groups, by providing them with a list of SCTP girl beneficiaries, would also help support girls’ education within the SCTP.