Preparing for Economic Independence

Central to the vision of Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls On The Move) Secondary School in Malawi is the goal of economic sustainability.  In the long term, APU needs to be able to operate independently, without requiring funding from elsewhere. 

Our start up plan is to use donated funds to construct all of the buildings and facilities that are needed to run the school.  Initially, the cost of operating the school is being covered entirely by our sponsors who pay $1000 per year per student.  

Once the school gains the reputation for offering high quality education to students, we will be able to attract private paying students.  Eventually, as the reputation of APU grows and our facilities improve, we will be able to charge our private students tuition that will be high enough to cover the cost of educating girls on scholarship.  With the income generated by our private paying students as well as other school related income generating projects (maize mill, rental of school facilities, selling of produce from our farm), we will be able to keep a ratio of half private students and half students on scholarship in each yearly intake of 80 girls.

We have already to implement this plan in our fourth year of operation. This is largely due to the outstanding achievement of our students on their national exams, earning APU nation-wide attention and recognition from the Malawi Board of Education.