As we discuss children’s right to education, we will emphasise the significance of children’s active participation in advocacy for their educational rights. We will zoom in on their barriers and suggest ways to foster environments that encourage their involvement in decision-making processes.
‘When our ideas seem to matter in the decision-making processes, we feel honoured and valued. It shows that the adults are listening and are willing to give us a platform to contribute towards policy change’.
‘There might be well-meaning policies, action plans, and strategies that are geared at addressing the country’s many challenges. However, if such strategies, policies and action plans do not include the voices of children, they are meaningless to us’.
‘Inclusive budgeting ensures that there is transparency and accountability. These seem like big words. But the most important thing is just ensuring that the budgeting process results in improved lives for children. For these results to be realised, children have to participate in their formulation and planning’.[1]
The children’s sentiments above resonate with the idea of child participation as provided for in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Children’s Charter, and echoed in the Malawi Constitution. In these instruments, it is stressed that children have the right to express their views in all matters that affect them and that these views be taken into consideration.[2]
Why does children’s participation matter?
What the children had reported above seems to align with the maxim that “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” This means that if the decisions about children’s lives are made in their absence, it clearly means that they are the ones to suffer from such decisions. It is clear that if children are involved in the decision-making process on matters that affect them, the likelihood of formulating action plans and policies that align with their needs is high.
“Providing children a space to participate in decision-making processes provides them a learning platform where they acquire skills in conflict management, critical thinking and advocacy.”
Furthermore, the ACERWC recognises that child participation enables and equips children to contribute to shaping their own lives, families, communities and the wider society.[3] It is also most likely that when children are involved in shaping the trajectory of their lives, they own the decisions and plans that are made and will ensure that such plans and actions are sustainable.
Additionally, children are in the majority, and they are probably going to be the most affected by the actions and decisions that are being made today. It is therefore plausible to let those who are going to be affected take the lead in defining what the future is going to look like. As it is argued and declared that the future generation depends to a great extent on the decisions and actions taken today, and that the current problems must be resolved in the interest of both the present and the future generation.[4] This only justifies the reason why children need to be involved in the decision-making processes on matters that affect them.
Children learn by doing and by imitation. They take on the experiences from their surrounding and apply them to their lives to make meaning out of them. It would be reasonable to conclude that these experiences give them an education that could not otherwise be attained through formal education. Thus, providing children a space to participate in decision-making processes provides them a learning platform where they acquire skills in conflict management, critical thinking and advocacy, among others. Besides, involving them in the decision-making processes not only authenticates the decisions that are made but also gives the actions born out of such decisions some level of legitimacy.
”Children’s ideas are solicited only as a matter of practice and not necessarily meaningful to influence the final decisions that are implemented.”
In this case, it is not surprising that children have reported that: The payment of user fees by children sitting for the national examination not only defeats the children’s wishes of acquiring an education, but it is also a threat to their rights to education, health and play.[5]
Additionally, children have also contended that continuously demanding user fees from children, most of whom come from impoverished households in Malawi, is against the contributions made by children during National Budget Formulation and consultative meetings. During these meetings, children reported that access to quality education is a problem among rural children in Malawi because their parents do not have an income that could adequately support their children’s education. Thus, demanding them to pay for these user fees elevates their vulnerability.
Additionally, the continuation of these practices only exemplifies the notion that children’s ideas are solicited only as a matter of practice and not necessarily meaningful to influence the final decisions that are implemented.[6]
Fostering child involvement
The Malawi government commits itself to ensuring that children have access to free compulsory education. This commitment comes with the responsibility of ensuring that this is attained by children without discrimination of any sort. Thus, just as any other right, the government is the chief duty bearer that must be held accountable in ensuring that this right is fulfilled and enjoyed. In the event that this is not being met, children have the right to demand that the government act. In the case of school and exam user fees, children will be acting within their constitutional rights to demand that the Malawi National Examinations Board put in place measures that ensure that children are not denied an opportunity to pursue an education because of these user fees. However, for the children to effectively demand accountability from the government to fulfil this responsibility, they need to be aware of their right to education and a litany of all other rights outlined in the international instruments and the Malawian Constitution.
Additionally, there is a perspective that children are not mature enough to have a seat at the decision-making table, let alone make meaningful decisions.[7] This notion denies them the opportunity to contribute to policy, actions and strategies that are claimed to have their best interest at heart. It would be prudent, therefore, to change this mindset and notion and start regarding children as subjects of rights whose participation and interest have to be at the core of the decision-making process, whether in education, environment, economics, politics and all matters that affect them.
“It is most likely that these approaches might take an unreasonably long time to materialise and move the government to act.”
Furthermore, improving dialogue between the government and all stakeholders, including children, will most likely enhance the working relationship and foster children’s participation. This collaboration will also help to provide policy guidance, try nuanced innovations, and clear misconceptions, where sometimes the government perceives CSO activities as adversarial and confrontational.
Children have the opportunity to claim their space in participation, advocate for the fulfilment of their rights and move the government to act in their best interest through different advocacy approaches. Such might include children’s parliament, petitions, litigation, mediation and support from CSOs, National Human Rights Institutions, as well as the regional bodies such as the African Children’s Committee, African Commission and the African Court. It is most likely that these approaches might take an unreasonably long time to materialise and move the government to act. In such cases, it might also be meaningful for the children to utilise their numbers and use social disobedience and media advocacy, including social media, as an alternative for voicing out their concerns for faster action from the government to improve their participation and promote their right to education by abolishing the user fees.
[1] Children Consultative meetings done by NGO Coalition on Children’s rights Malawi, Lilongwe Hotel March 2025.
[2] ACRWC art 4(2); CRC (1989), art 12.
[3] African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, ‘General Comment on Article 31 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child on “The Responsibilities of the Child”‘ (2017), para 19.
[4] UNESCO, Declaration on the Responsibilities of the Present Generations Towards Future Generations (adopted 12 November 1997) https://www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/declaration-responsibilities-present-generations-towards-future-generations accessed 16 April 2025.
[5] Children Consultative meetings done by NGO Coalition on Children’s rights Malawi, Lilongwe Hotel March 2025.
[6] Children Consultative meetings done by NGO Coalition on Children’s rights Malawi, Lilongwe Hotel March 2025.
[7] Karmen Toros, ‘A systematic review of children’s participation in child protection decision‐making: Tokenistic presence or not?’ (2021) 35(3) Children & Society 395,401.
