Another death trap at Namikwende School
As Zomba is still mourning the death of some five children after a classroom block fell on them, a school in Thyolo is using a life threatening block that has wide and deep cracks for learning.
Namikwende Junior School was discovered on Friday, in Traditional Authority Mphuka, where it was observed that poles used to support the walls were completely detaching themselves from the main structure.
The other side of the block is open as its wall collapsed leaving the roof hanging.
The Head Teacher of the school, Sosten Kafalirani, while admitting the block was a time bomb, said it was being used due to shortage of classrooms at the school.
“We have no option but to use the block for lessons due to shortage of classrooms but we understand it’s not fit for usage especially for children,” he said.
The head teacher said he was aware of the incident in Zomba, but was quick to blame the parents for not doing anything on the block.
“Parents see their children using this structure but they don’t say anything. We are just lucky that no accident has occurred up to now. We expected them to atleast provide us with an alternative.” Kafalirani explained.
A parent, Egily Fulaide said the community was aware of the danger of their children using the old structure.
“This is total negligence of the community. If something happens here, we won’t point fingers at the school authority. It’s our own fault. We lack unity here. We were supposed to mould bricks for new blocks sometime back but people don’t turn up for the work,” she said.
The Parent said there was nothing the school authority could have done apart from using the block as the school’s enrolment was high against one block of 2 classes.
Another parent, Teleza Chikhungwa, said the community was not willing to contribute in the school development because they feel left out in most development activities that other areas benefit.
She said due to the areas terrain which is hilly, with rough road network, the school is not visited as other schools.
However, the parent said through the chiefs, there were plans for the community to get mobilized and work towards in molding bricks and constructing new blocks.
Mana observed that despite using the dilapidated block, other classes were still taking place under trees.
District Commissioner for Thyolo, Justin Kathumba after viewing pictures of the block issued an order for the education sector to swiftly demolish the block with immediate effect.
Namikwende School which is about 30km from Thyolo Boma was opened in 2004.
It has three teachers against five classes with an enrolment of over 300 pupils.
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Why cant the community mobilize themselves and construct a new block, when will Malawians start to understand their responsility.
Much as it is appreciated that the community should mobilize themselves and construct a new block, it would be a tall order to them to raise materials such as brick force, quarry stones and IBR iron sheets. Unless part of funding from DDF, CDF and LDF is released for that school project, then its hardly possible that the structure would be put up. But everything is possible if the community and the DEM in Thyolo involve Education Minister MSAKA on the matter. Look at schools that Machinga has had so far. Very impressive … However, the community should go for… Read more »
It is the responsibility of the Malawi government and not the community to construct school blocks using our taxes. For your information Government has banned the use of burnt bricks for all its projects. Where then do you think the community can get the cemented bricks? The goodness is that this school is in THYOLO kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!