COMPOSITION WRITING AT MSCE LEVEL

CONTRIBUTORS

Innocent Mwafulirwa (Chaminade Day Secondary School)

Letters

Takondwa Phiri (Chaminade Day Secondary School)

Letters/ Report

EstinaNgosi (Chaminade Open Secondary School)

Letters

Sergius Kaira (Chaminade Day Secondary School)

Letters

Mr. G Theu (Teacher at Chaminade)

Speech/ Short stories

Compiled and edited by

Griffin Theu (BAE/ PGDICT)

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Griffin Theu of Chaminade Secondary School    Production
 COMPOSITION AT MSCE LEVEL

The following areas are examined in this section;

a) Report
b) Letter
c) Speech
d) Short story

Previously, there were 3 questions (letter / report, speech, and short story), but now it is 2 questions.
There is much emphasis on creativity. That is why the questions do not have guidelines.
Consequently, guidelines were removed as a deliberate attempt to captivate creativity in the candidates.
In an exam, candidates must have their own guidelines or points. Each guideline must be expanded in its own
paragraph.
A short story is also fancied to improve creativity.
Teachers must, therefore, cultivate this in the students by giving them enough time for practice.
Questions are taken from themes found in the syllabus.
Candidates must understand the key concept in the question.
Candidates should take their time to plan for the question they have chosen (10 minutes for planning)

EXPECTATIONS FROM THE CANDIDATES

Read and understand the questions given.
Choose the question he/she can raise more points to score high marks.
Deduce the correct layout of the question e.g. report, letter, speech, short story.
Plan what to include in the write-up.
Write between 350 and 500 words failure to do so a candidate is penalized.
Ensure he or she sticks to the demands of the question.
Use correct grammatical rules, subject-verb agreement, tenses etc.
Paragraphing by skipping lines.

CHALLENGES EXPERIENCED BY CANDIDATES IN COMPOSITIONS

Most candidates exhibited the following challenges:
Failure to understand the questions given.
Wrong spelling of words.
Wrong cutting of words at the end of the line due to lack of knowledge of word syllables.
Poor punctuation and paragraphing.
Lack of understanding of several rules of grammar; subject verb agreement, tense use etc.
Use of contractions e.g. don’t, didn’t, won’t, hasn’t, haven’t etc.
Use of slangs e.g. guy, dad, mom etc.
Use of bombastic words
Starting sentences with small letters
Poor handwriting

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 LETTER/ REPORT

Content for a Letter/Report

1) Geographical location of your area

- name of the village/ area
- cardinal points of your area e.g. North of Karonga District
- name of Traditional Authority, village heads, etc.
- name of the road,
- distance to be covered
- physical features around the area e.g. rivers, tall buildings etc.

2) Extent of the problems i.e.how big the problem is

- history of how the problem started
- number of people affected
- age range

3) Causes of the problem

4) Effects of the problem

5) Solution 1: What the community has done

2: Required assistance

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 PART 1

LETTER WRITING
A letter addressed or written to people with whom one has no personal relationship.
The layout of a formal letter consists of the following components
The sender’s Address: Top right
The date: Below senders Address
The recipient’s address: Below date to the left margin.
Salutation: Use Dear Sir or Dear Madam
Title: Upper case
Content body: Clarity, paragraphed 350 words.
Closing/complementary close: Yours faithfully
Signature and ,then, name in full

LAYOUT OF A FORMAL LETTER

Chaminade Secondary School
Post Office Box 100
Karonga

2nd November, 2023

The Director
Social Welfare Office
Post Office Box 3
Karonga

Dear Madam

EFFECTS OF DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE

The content body must have an introduction, clear and detailed explanations of points in various paragraphs and
conclusion that focus on demands of the questions.
The content body must have between 350 and 500 words.

Yours faithfully
T. Phiri
Takondwa Phiri
(Concerned Member)

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Imagine that there is a high rate of absenteeism at your school. As a concerned head teacher, write a letter to
the Minister of Education asking for her intervention into the issue.

Chaminade Secondary School

Post Office Box 100
Karonga

5thJanuary, 2023

The Minister
Ministry of Education
Private Bag 6144
Lilongwe

Dear Madam

HIGH RATE OF PROBLEM OF ABSENTEEISM AT MY SCHOOL

I write to inform you that there is a high rate of absenteeism at my school called Chaminade Secondary School.

This school is found in Karonga District. It is five kilometres away from Karonga Town Centre. When you reach the
Town Centre, you take the Karonga-Mzuzu Road. After a ten-minute drive, you reach Karonga District Hospital Turn-
off. There, you turn to the right and drive straight until you reach Chaminade Turn-off as the signpost indicates. From
there, the school is two kilometres away.

Absenteeism at this school has been associated with all the generations since the inception of the school in 1962.
However, in the past, it was on a small scale as compared to these days as the number of students has risen to 150
according to the records.

One of the factors is poverty. The parents cannot afford paying fees for their children. This makes the school chase
their children from school due to fees balances. This has greatly contributed to high rate of absenteeism at my school.
Peer pressure has also led to high rate of absenteeism. Some students get cheated by their friends who are fond of
missing classes due to laziness. These students influence others to be absconding classes and spending much of their
time in hidden places, drinking and smoking.

Absenteeism has led to poor performance of the students. The students do not perform well because of missing classes.
They get disturbed when they are chased from school. The mood for school departs from some of them. Even if they
return to school after paying school fees in full, they fail to concentrate because they fail to catch up with their fellow
students. As a result, some of them fail and others pass but with poor grades. It has also led to school dropout. Since
many parents cannot afford to pay school fees for their children, they then leave their children to be staying in the
villages. As a result, the mood for school departs from them making them drop out of school.

Here at school, my fellow teachers and I help some of the students get bursaries from some Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOS) like Lusubilo and Press Trust. However, this is not enough to reach every student. Still, a good
number of students are left out from such bursaries. I, strongly, believe that absenteeism can be a thing of the past
once you intervene by providing bursaries to the remaining students. In addition, civic education can also be of help
to students as they can understand the importance of education in one’s life.

I hope your office will take our complaints seriously and find solutions to them. My fellow teachers and I will be
pleased to see our all students, who are at home due to lack of school fees, back to school again.

Yours faithfully
I. Mwafulirwa
Innocent Mwafulirwa
(Head teacher)

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Imagine that your area has been affected by an increase in suicide cases. Write a letter to the District Social
Welfare Office explaining how this has affected your area and suggest how you would mitigate the problem.

Chaminade Secondary School

Post Office Box 100
Karonga

20th March, 2023

The Director
District Social Welfare Office
Karonga District Assembly
Private Bag 180
Karonga

Dear Sir

INCREASE IN SUICIDE CASES IN MY AREA

I write to inform you that there is an increase in suicide cases in my area, Nkhoma village. This village is found in
Northern Malawi in Karonga district. It is located to the North-West of Karonga proper in the area of Traditional
Authority Kyungu. The name of the village headman is Mwangoye Nkhoma. It is eight kilometres away from Karonga
town. To reach this village, you take the Karonga-Chitipa road. After an-hour drive, you find a signpost along the road
written “Nkhoma Village”.

The problem started in 2020. A boy committed suicide for a reason known to himself. So far, the number of those
who have already killed themselves, for different reasons, has risen to twenty. The most affected are men and the
youths.

Poverty is the major cause of suicide in my area. People who are entangled with poverty feel like the better way of
solving their problems is by committing suicide. Orphanage is another catalyst of suicide in my area. Children who
do not have parents lead a miserable life due to lack of parental care. As a result, they think of committing suicide so
that they run away from their hurdles. This has led to increase in suicide cases in my area.

The increase in suicide cases has negatively affected the village in terms of the economic status of the people and
development of the area. The village has lost productive people who could have carried out development activities in
the village. This has facilitated the increase in poverty since some of the people were farmers who helped in
maintaining the food security of the area. Underdevelopment is another negative effect caused by an increase in suicide
cases. This village lacks individuals who can develop it since it has lost productive people who could have contributed
a lot to its development.

In trying to mitigate the practice, the village headman has resolved that any family whose member has committed
suicide will be banished from the village. However, I feel this is not enough to end it completely. That is why I would
like to ask for assistance from you. For example, I ask for an orphanage centre to be set up in the village which can be
responsible for taking care of the orphans by providing them with food, clothes, and education. Through this centre,
orphans can forget their miseries which can make them be far away from killing themselves. In addition to that, I also
believe that through the provision of loans to some households can be of help. This can help to reduce poverty which
is one of the agents of suicide in my area.

I hope that your office will take our complaints seriously and find a lasting solution to them. I will be happy if your
office takes an immediate action against this practice.

Yours faithfully
I.M.
Innocent Mwafulirwa
(Concerned villager)

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Imagine that there is a high rate of absenteeism at your school. As a concerned head teacher, write a letter to
the Minister of Education asking for her intervention into the issue.

Chaminade Secondary School

Post Office Box 100
Karonga

5th January, 2023

The Minister
Ministry of Education
Private Bag 1277
Lilongwe

Dear Madam

THE PROBLEM OF ABSENTEEISM AT MY SCHOOL

I write to inform you about the problem of absenteeism in my school, Chaminade Secondary School.

This school is situated to the West of Karonga district in the Northern part of Malawi. It is, specifically, found in
Mwanganda village headed by Chief Mwanganda in the area of Traditional Authority Kyungu. To go to this school,
you take the Maghemo road and travel for six kilometres to reach there. The school is near Miracle Technical Institute.

In the past academic years, incidents of absenteeism, noted by class teachers of various classes, were not that alarming.
Students could only be absent from school once per week perhaps because of sicknesses. To date, records have clearly
shown that some students stay away from school for the whole term.

Several reasons are suggested to have perpetuated this rampant increased rate of absenteeism. Poverty is one of the
factors. Most of the parents in Mwanganda and neighbouring villages cannot afford providing their children with fees,
food, school materials such as books pamphlets and school bags. As such, students are often absent from school
because they cannot learn without fees, food and school materials. Orphanhood is another factor. Orphans also lack
basic necessities and school fees. As such, they are always chased from school for not paying school fees. Orphans
cannot also learn on empty stomachs.

Increased rate of absenteeism has a lot of negative effects both at individual and school levels. Absenteeism leads to
poor passing rate of students at Malawi School Leaving Certificate (MSCE) level. As students miss classes, the rate
of uncovered work also increases. As such, students cannot withstand the pressure of the examinations leading to
failure. It can also lead to lack of productive citizens in the community. As students fail examinations due to frequent
absenteeism, there is always reduced number of citizens with qualifications for various posts in the community.

So far, the community has put in place stiff laws against this situation. For example stiff punishments are given to
students who absent from school without tangible reasons. I, also, ask you to pay a visit to the school and provide
bursaries to orphans and students from poor families in order for them to accomplish their goal of becoming educated.

I will be happy if your office takes an immediate action against this problem.

Yours faithfully
T. Phiri
Takondwa Phiri
(Head teacher)

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Imagine that you are a concerned member of the society where the problem of food insecurity has greatly
affected the members of the community. Write a letter to the District Agricultural Development Officer in your
area explaining the situation.

Chaminade Secondary School

Post Office Box 100
Karonga

15th January, 2023

The District Agricultural Development Officer

Private Bag 123
Karonga

Dear Sir

PROBLEM OF FOOD INSECURITY IN MY AREA

I write to inform you that there is the problem of food insecurity in my area, Kasantha.

This area is found in the Northern part of Karonga. To reach there, you take the tarmac road which goes to Songwe
Border. After half an hour drive from Karonga Roundabout, you reach Pusi. Kasantha is located to the East of Pusi.
The village headman is Katumbi in the area of Traditional Authority Kyungu.

The problem started in 2020. By then, this community had almost 300 people in total with 200 households. Despite
having high population rate, this area did not face any problems concerning food as many people depended on farming
as a means of survival. However, since, 2020, almost 170 households have been experiencing hunger. The most
affected are the farmers and business people.

This first cause of this problem is drought. This is due to deforestation as more trees are being cut down for charcoal
making timber, leaving the area without trees. This area receives little rainfall. Again, rains do not come as required.
This results into low yields. Another cause is lack of fertilizer. Many people cannot afford as it is too expensive to
buy. Many grow crops without fertilizer. As a result, they produce less than what is required.

The problem has brought some negative effects into the area. The first is theft. Families experience hunger and, as a
result, many parents engage in theft in order to find their families’ basic needs. School dropout is the other effect.
Hunger becomes a common song in my area. As a result, some of learners leave school as no-one can concentrate on
studies on empty stomach.

All in all, I am happy to say that the people of this area work hand in hand in an effort to end this problem of food
insecurity. They have dams in order to have enough water which they can use in irrigating their crops. They are also
embarking on re-afforestation. We would like you to help us with fertilizer.

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. I hope you will take my request into consideration.

Yours faithfully
E. Ngosi
Estina Ngosi
(Concerned member)

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Griffin Theu of Chaminade Secondary School    Production
Imagine that there is a problem of prostitution in your area and you are very much concerned about it. Write
a letter to the Minister of Gender informing her of the situation.

Chaminade Secondary School

Post Office Box 100
Karonga

15th January, 2023

The Minister
Ministry of Education
Private Bag 3002
Lilongwe

Dear Madam

PROBLEM OF PROSTITUTION IN MY AREA

I write to inform you that there is the problem of prostitution in my area, Kasantha.

This area is in the Northern part of Karonga. To reach there, you take the Karonga-Songwe road. After covering ten
kilometres from Karonga Roundabout, you, then, reach Pusi. Kasantha is to the East of Pusi. The village headman of
the area is Katumbi and the Traditional Authority is Chief Kyungu.

The problem started in 2020. This area had 5000 people in total. Most of these people were boys and girls. Prostitution
started with two girls who dropped out of school as a result of poverty. As I speak, nearly 250 girls are engaged in the
business after seeing that their friends are making a lot of money from it. Most of these girls are of school-going age.

The first cause of this problem is poverty. For them to meet their needs, they have found prostitution as the way of
finding money. This makes them think that prostitution is better than school. Lack of parental care also makes them
join prostitution. Due to poverty, most of the parents find it hard to support their children. It has been discovered that
some of these girls support their parents through prostitution.

Prostitution has brought in some negative effects. The first is the transmission of Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)
and Human Immune-deficiency Virus (HIV). Since these girls sleep with different men in exchange for money, they
easily contract such diseases. In addition, they get unwanted pregnancies. It becomes their responsibility to take care
of the babies which, in the end, leads to increased poverty.

All in all, I am glad to say that the village headman of this area has put in place some laws prohibiting prostitution.
Any girl who is found in places like bars will have to pay two cows. We would like you to help us with civic education.
Parents and children need to know the effects of prostitution in their lives.

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. I hope you will take my request into consideration.

Yours faithfully
E. Ngosi
Estina Ngosi
(Concerned member)

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Imagine that your area has been affected by an increase in suicide cases. Write a letter to the District Social
Welfare Office explaining how this has affected your area and suggest how you would mitigate the problem.

Chaminade Secondary School

Post Office Box 100
Karonga

20th March, 2023

The Director
District Social Welfare Office
Private Bag 39
Karonga

Dear Sir

INCREASE IN SUICIDE CASES IN MY AREA

I write to inform you that there is an increase in suicide cases in my area, Kasantha.

Kasantha is located to the North of Karonga district. To reach there, you take the Karonga-Songwe road. After an hour
drive from Karonga roundabout, you reach a trading centre called Pusi. Kasantha is to the East of Pusi. From Pusi to
Kasantha, you take the Pusi-Kasantha dusty road. Kasantha is only five kilometers away from Pusi. The village
headman is Katunmbi in the area of Traditional Authority Kyungu.

The problem of suicide started in 2010.It started with two boys who killed themselves for reasons best known to them.
The practice was uncommon in the past. However, as of late, the situation is even worse. My area, alone, has so far
registered nearly twenty dead people through suicide. The most affected people are the youths especially the school-
going learners.

The first cause of this problem is lack of employment. Most of the youth are educated but they are not getting employed
which results into extreme poverty. Seeing how they are suffering despite being educated, they think that the only way
to forget this is through killing themselves. In addition to that, drug and substance abuse also contributes to this
problem of committing suicide. Most of the people take these drugs and substances due to loneliness as they have
nothing to do to keep them busy. As a result, they lose their normal senses which make them end up committing
suicide without meaning to do so.

This problem has brought in some negative effects. The first effect is the loss of energetic people. The community
loses a lot of energetic people who would have contributed much to its development. Another effect is school dropout
which is very high. Learners are dropping out of school because they feel it is of no use as their friends who were
educated are just committing suicides as a result of frustrations. However, this is bad for the people in the area as they
will never come out of poverty if these youths are not taking education seriously.

This problem of suicide can be mitigated only if the people in the area are provided with employment especially those
who are educated. This will again encourage learners to work hard in school as they are being assured of getting
employed once they finish their studies. In addition, I am glad to say that the village headman of this area has put in
place some measures prohibiting suicide. Anyone who is found in possession of drugs and substances will have to pay
two cows and be banished from the area. Lastly, we would like you to help us with civic education. Parents and
children need to know the effects of committing suicide both at community and national level.

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. I hope you will take my request into consideration.

Yours faithfully
E. Ngosi
Estina Ngosi
(Concerned member)

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Imagine that there is a problem of prostitution in your area and you are very much concerned about it. Write
a letter to the Minister of Gender informing her of the situation.

Chaminade Secondary School

Post Office Box 100
Karonga

23rd May, 2022

The Minister
Ministry of Gender
Private Bag 2004
Lilongwe

Dear Sir

PROBLEM OF PROSTITUTION IN MY AREA

I write this letter to inform you that there is the problem of prostitution in my area, Pusi.

This area is located to the North of Karonga district. To reach this area from Karonga Town, you take the Karonga-
Songwe road. The area is halfway between Karonga and Songwe Border. Pusi is in the area of Traditional Authority
Kyungu. The name of the village headman is Feston Kaira. To the East of this village, there is Lake Malawi. There
are a lot of grass-thatched houses. This is an indication that there is poverty in my area.

The village has 3000 people in total. There are 700 households. The problem of prostitution started in 2014.it started
with less than ten girls. So far, almost 500 girls are already into the business. Most of these girls are of the school-
going age.

The main cause is poverty. This has made school-going girls drop out of school due to lack of school fees. As the
goes, “An idle brain is the devil’s workshop”, they, then, start engaging themselves in sexual relationships. Girls
usually go out with sugar daddies who, in turn, give them a lot of money. In addition, cultural practices also contribute
to prostitution. Many families are encouraged to sleep with men at early age. As a result, most of the girls find cultural
practices as an excuse to sleep with men as a way of making money. This has made many girls stop school with the
aim of selling their bodies.

Prostitution has led to increased cases of Sexually-Transmitted Infections. Many girls are attacked by diseases such
as syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea and chancroid to mention a few. So far, the village has lost some young and energetic
young people, leaving behind the weak, old and sick people. This retards the development of the village. In addition,
unplanned pregnancies are common in the area. This leads to the increased population in the area. The children that
are born are not even taken care of. This, to some extent, trebles the poverty.

Upon being tired of this, the village has put in place law against prostitution. Anyone who is found influencing young
girls is penalized by paying K50, 000 for developmental projects in the area. However, we feel that this is not enough
to end prostitution. That is why I ask you to visit my area for civic education.

Lastly, I am looking forward to your visit. I hope that the efforts of your office can help in ending this problem in my
area.

Yours faithfully
S.G. Kaira
Serguis Gift Kaira
(Concerned member)

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There is heavy unemployment in your area. As a concerned member, write a letter to the Minister of Labour requesting
for the projects for the youths that will make the youths employable and productive after finishing their studies
in your area

Chaminade Secondary School

Post Office Box 100
Karonga

23rd May, 2022

The Minister
Ministry of Labour
Private Bag 204
Lilongwe

Dear Sir

REQUEST FOR PROJECTS FOR THE YOUTHS IN MY AREA

I write this letter to request you for the projects that will make the youths employable and productive after finishing
their studies in my area, Dunduzu.

This area is located to the West of Mzimba district. To reach this area from Mzuzu City, you take the Dunduzu-
Ekwendeni road. The area is halfway between Mzuzu and Ekwendeni. Dunduzu is in the area of Traditional Authority
Mtwalo. The name of the village headman is Feston Kaira. To the East of this village, there is Pwiti Mountain. There
are a lot of grass-thatched houses. This is an indication that there is poverty in my area.

The village has 2000 people in total. There are 1500 households. The problem of unemployment started in 2014. So
far, almost 500 youths are doing nothing, yet very eager to be employees. This problem is heavily affecting the youths
who have just finished their studies in different schools in this country.

The main cause of unemployment is corruption. Many people who are well-to-do are offered jobs. Most of them bribe
the employers to get employed. This habit has lived to the present such that we, the unemployed, find it hard to secure
jobs. Besides, favoritism also contributes to unemployment. The families that are linked to people in high offices are
blessed with jobs. Many officials favour their relatives.

However, this has made most of the young people engage themselves in theft so as to find their basic needs. Apart
from that, they also join bad companies. Mostly, they get involved in drug and substance abuse. They also engage
themselves in sexual activities. This leads to other complications like unplanned pregnancies and contraction of
Sexually-Transmitted Infections.

The community has already done its part in trying to reduce unemployment rate. The community has constructed
nursery and primary schools within the village where some of the young men and women are temporarily employed
to teach in order to meet their day-to-day needs. However, the large number is still left unemployed. I, therefore, ask
you to come to our rescue. We believe that the introduction of some developments like the construction of the hospital,
secondary school and market in our area can play a great role in reducing unemployment in an area. This will help the
youths to have jobs such as being cleaners, watchmen, businessmen etc.

Lastly, I hope that your office will come to our rescue in creating jobs for the youths in my area.

Yours faithfully
G.S. Kaira
Gift Sergius Kaira
(Concerned member)

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 PART 2
REPORT WRITING

PARTS OF A REPORT
The date: must be written in full and should come first.
Sender’s address: include name first.
Recipients address: include title of officer/position one holds.
The title: indicate subject in upper case
The body/content: answers the question/clarity/paragraphed
The closing/denouement: no use of yours faithfully.

LAYOUT OF A REPORT
Date : 1st November, 2023.

From : Takondwa Phiri, Chaminade Secondary School, Post Office Box 100, Karonga.

To : The Director, Social Welfare Office, Post Office Box 3, Karonga.

EFFECTS OF DRUG AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Content of the body be between 350 words and 500 words.

T. Phiri
Takondwa Phiri
(Head teacher)

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There is the problem of early marriages in your area . As a concerned member, write a report to the Minister
of Gender informing her about the problem.

Date : 17th August, 2022.

From : Takondwa Phiri, Chaminade Secondary School, Post Office Box 100, Karonga.

To : The Minister, Ministry of Gender, Post Office Box 120, Lilongwe.

PROBLEM OF EARLY MARRIAGES IN MY AREA

I write to report to you about the problem of early marriages in my area.

The name of my area is Madimba village and it is headed by village headman Chamba in the area of Traditional
Authority Mkumpha. This area is located to the West of Likoma town. To go to this area, you take the Madimba road
from the town and travel for six kilometres to reach Mkombera Bridge. From this point, you take the gravel road to
the right of the bridge that leads to a small village which is located between the two mountains and that is the Madimba
village.

The cases of early marriages have dreadfully increased in my area starting from the time of Covid-19 pandemic up to
date. Records from the Likoma District Hospital have shown that over fifty girls were found pregnant during this
period as such engaged in early marriages.

There are several reasons believed to have stirred up this extreme increase in early marriages. Poverty is one of them.
Most families in my area are poor. As such, allowing their daughters to marry rich old men in order to sustain their
living seems to be the best solution to their poverty. This is not amusing at all. Lastly, death of parents is also a
contributing factor to this problem. As parents die, children lack several basic needs such as food, clothes, schools
fees etc. As such, rich old men take advantage of their situation to marry them.

The problem of early marriages has led to several problems. To begin with, early marriages have resulted into
increased population. Since girls get married and start bearing children at young age, it means the time they grow old,
they have many children. As a result, they find it hard to support them. Early marriages have also led to increased
poverty rates. As girls get impregnated and married, they tend to drop out of school. This, in turn, results into increased
poverty rates.

Though this issue of early marriages is at an alarming tare, there are several ways believed to have a potential in ending
this problem. For example, the village has put in place stiff laws against all parents who allow their parents to get
married at tender ages. They will be requested to pay fine of K100, 000 once associated with such behaviours. Lastly,
we believe that your intervention can turn the tables. There are families that need capital to start businesses. There are
also girls who need bursaries for their education.

I will be glad if your office takes an immediate action against this problem.

T. P.
Takondwa Phiri
(Concerned member)

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 PART 3
SPEECH WRITING
A speech is a talk given in public before an audience.
Speech writing is like any other composition that is written. It must have the following divisions:
 The introduction
 The body
 The conclusion

INTRODUCTION
An introduction should capture the listener’s attention.
It is must recognize the presence of the audience.
Respect is shown by mentioning the guests and invitees following seniority of the guests (highly ranked to
the lowly ranked).
It must highlight the purpose of the speech to the audience. The introductory statement to the question must
be clear.
Speech questions should not include guidelines.

EXAMPLE OF A SPEECH INTRODUCTION

The Guest of Honour, the District Education Manager; the Traditional Authority, the Head teacher, the Deputy
Head teacher, the Heads of Department, all Members of Staff, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to extend my
deep felt gratitude to the organizers and all of you for allowing me to stand here and talk about the effects of
school dropout in our country on development.

THE BODY
It is divided into paragraphs depending on the points one has to put them across to the audience.
When writing, one should imagine as if talking to the live audience that is listening.
It should include the live speech conventions like repetitions of certain phrases like Ladies and gentlemen,
Our Guest of Honour, Our distinguished guests, my fellow students etc. when introducing a new point.

THE CONCLUSION
The conclusion should not be a crash-landing.
It should present a satisfying effect on the audience.
Formally, mention the highest dignitary and the audience together.
A good conclusion should have a statement that expresses gratitude to the audience for listening to your
speech.

Content of the speech

1) Welcoming remarks
- a list of dignitaries at the meeting i.e. in descending order
- the purpose of the speech
2) Extent of the problems i.e. how big the problem is
- history of how the problem started
- number of people affected i.e. number of pregnancy cases, age range, etc.
3) Causes of the problem
4) Effects of the problem
5) Solution 1: what has been done
2: Required assistance

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Griffin Theu of Chaminade Secondary School    Production
 Below are examples of speeches

Imagine that cases of child pregnancies are on the increase in your area. The village head for the area has
invited some prominent members of the society to help address this problem. Being in attendance at this
meeting, you have been asked to deliver a speech. Write the speech that you would deliver at the occasion.

Our Guest of Honour, who is also our Member of Parliament for Karonga North Constituency, Mr.Mwambande, the
Traditional Authority for this area, Chief Kilupula, the Child Protection Officer for this area, Mr. Mwapangire, Group
Village Headman, Dickson Chawinga, village headmen present, ladies and gentlemen. The future of our country lies
in the hands of the youths but most of them are dropping out of school due to child pregnancies. It is for this reason
that I stand before you this morning and speak against this practice.

The Guest of Honour, issues of child pregnancy were few in the past. Unlike then, we, now, are changing for the
worse. As I speak, the area has an estimate of between thirty to forty cases. A majority of this population is of school-
going age and most of them are either secondary or primary school learners.

The Guest of Honour, the first cause of this problem is poverty. Most of the children come from very poor families.
As a result, most of the girls think of having boyfriends, even men, so that they get money to support themselves. In
the long run, they get pregnant. Another cause is lack of role models for girls. There are very few educated women in
this area as compared to men. As such, our girls think that education is for boys only, and not for girls. As a result,
they focus on sexual relationships than their education. They end up being impregnated.

The Guest of Honour, this problem has got long-term effects such as high dropout rate. It is obvious that girls that are
pregnant cannot proceed with their education. As a result, they reserve their places to continue with their education
later. Unfortunately, not all of them come back. This also leads to increased population due to uncontrolled births.
Girls start bearing children at very tender ages. There is a very likelihood that by the time they get old, they will have
many children. Consequently, this leads to high population growth.

The Guest of Honour, as I stand here, I am glad to report that there are some laws that all those responsible for the
pregnancies (both boys and girls) be punished. Again, their parents are also not only summoned but also given
penalties. Besides, I would like to invite you to my area to help us with civic education. As a Member of Parliament,
you can also play a part in formulating stiffer laws on this.

The Guest of Honour, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to end my speech by thanking all of you for being attentive during
my speech delivery.

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Griffin Theu of Chaminade Secondary School    Production
 PART 4

SHORT STORY
Has a limited number of characters
Has a restricted setting
Has a narrow range of actions

PLOT
It is the sequence of events or actions in a literary work.

a) EXPOSITION
It is the start of the story
It gives the location of the story (setting).
It introduces the main characters.
It should be intriguing and perhaps form a thematic link to the end.

b) RISING ACTION
It is where the story gets more involved.
You can introduce more characters
Bear in mind that any detail has to be totally relevant and necessary

c) CLIMAX
The top of the story
The main character faces a dramatic event that has been building up in the rising action
 a surprise revelation
 a big realisation for the main character.
At this moment, tension breaks, realisations are made, truths are told or action happens.
They may realise that they love someone, discover that someone was lying or remember something important.
Happens towards the end of the story

d) FALLING ACTION
It is where the story winds down.
If the decisions are reached, consequences are followed.

e) RESOLUTION
The conclusion of the story
The conflict is resolved. Climax

Rising action
Falling
action

Exposition Resolution

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Griffin Theu of Chaminade Secondary School    Production
 SUCCESS COMES WITH HARD WORK

Mornings created activities such as drawing water from the wells. Chrissie Jere took it as her routine role
before she went to school. Despite that, she loved school with all her heart.

Time spent on studies was minimal. After school, she, like the other girls of her time and age, assumed
motherly roles. This did not worry Chrissie as she was the only girl in her family. Her mother also needed
her hand. Despite being in such situation, she knew pretty well that she would go far with her education.

“Girls can also perform miracles in class just as you boys”, teachers said this in class and during assemblies
but boys like Andrew, Prince and Gregory, treated it with less seriousness. To them, this philosophy never
existed. They never saw a girl going far with school in their area.

Boys of her class were proud of their termly performance. Never a day went by without mentioning it. Like
the other girls, Chrissie received a lot of insults from them. Term after term, her results were poor and
humiliating. This made the boys look down upon her as they concluded that her performance would take
her nowhere.

“Some girls in this class get grades that prepare them for marriage,” Andrew said this while gazing at the
silent Chrissie. Like bees in their hive, there was unstoppable noise in the classroom.

Little did they know about Chrissie’s plan. To her, it was a battle to overcome. “What can I do to get out of
this mess?” she asked herself but talking alone was not enough to change the situation she was in. It was a
bitter pill for her to swallow as all points of the compass catapulted insults towards her. Definitely, she had
to do something.

All of sudden, things picked up. It was like now she came to know the errors of her ways. As a result, she
started studying hard, in secret, preparing herself for the final examinations. When the days of the
examinations came, Chrissie wrote her final examinations with ease.

When the results were released three months later, everybody was taken by surprise. She was the only pupil
from Chinyera Primary School to go to Lilongwe Girls Secondary School, one of the best national schools
in the country. The rest got selected to Mzalangwe Community Day Secondary School.

The whole area got stunned. Andrew and her fellow classmates got embarrassed as they remembered how
they showered insults at Chrissie. This was the beginning of her great future success.

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Griffin Theu of Chaminade Secondary School    Production
 BETRAYAL

Manase Mwaza and Mr. Nkhambule were best friends. For this reason, Manase knew his friend’s grass-
thatched house very well. With a clean sheet, Manase was undetected as a thief. Mr. Nkhambule and his
wife, Nyazamangwe, broke up. She went away with their two children to her home village at Emtiyani,
leaving her husband alone at Jandalala where he owned a very big farm. She said he could not manage to
take care of them in her absence. So, he vowed not to marry again.

Manase Mwaza and Mr. Nkhambule liked sharing stories in the house, running away from the whirlwind
that whispered anger outside. Some houses could even lose their roofs during this part of the year.

“I am going home to attend the burial ceremony of one of my relatives? Mr Nkhambule started the
conversation. “When are you coming back here?”Manase asked. “I’ll be back in two days’ time,” responded
Mr. Nkhambule. Truly, he knew nothing that his friend was a thief. Blinded by his openness, Mr.
Nkhambule even revealed all his secrets to him.

“Time is ripe for me to break into his house and steal some of his precious property,” he reassured himself.
“The time has come itself and no-one can stop it.” That was his only thought as he was looking forward to
the execution and success of his plan.

Exactly at 4 p.m., Manase escorted Mr. Nkhambule to the bus stop. The Mzimba-Ekwendeni bus arrived
after a short wait. Mr. Nkhambule bade farewell to his friend and, then, boarded the bus. Witnessing his
friend’s departure with his own eyes, Manase returned home with a smile.

The bus broke down three kilometres away from the bus stop. Seeing that there was no hope of continuing
with the journey, Mr. Nkhambule walked back home and arrived there after dark. Something John had no
knowledge about. Had he known, he would have changed his mind.

Manase waited until darkness blanketed the whole area. Satisfied with the heavy darkness which was
outside, he picked up courage and started his secret journey. All along, he thought the house was alone. He
thought of all that he could do with the money after selling the stolen blankets and pots. He thanked the bus
for taking Mr. Nkhambule to his home village, Ezondweni.

With noiseless footsteps, Manase entered the house. Mr. Nkhambule saw the thief but did not shout for
help. Quietly, he walked out without the knowledge of Manase. Within ten minutes, he and the neighbours
came and stood near the entrance.

As Manase was about to walk out with blankets under his armpits and pots in his hands, he saw a crowd of
people, well-equipped with sticks, stones, spears, axes and knives.

“Hey! Drop down what you are carrying!” the crowd shouted. Manase did as told knowing that he was,
now, in for it. Regret and crocodile tears never consoled him. He could see a furnace of fire waiting for him
to be roasted.

With his mouth agape, Mr. Nkhambule shouted, “Manase Mwaza!” These were the last words from Mr.
Nkhambule after he had taken a closer look at him and recognised him.

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Griffin Theu of Chaminade Secondary School    Production