The Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC) has expressed concern over poor condition of schools in Malawi saying the bad state of schools is evidence that political leaders in the country use taxpayers’ money to enrich themselves.
CSEC Executive Director Benedicto Kondowe said this during an assessment tour financed by Swedish Development Partners organised to appreciate Khoche Primary School in Dedza.
The school has grass thatched school blocks and does not have a teachers’ office.
According to the school’s head teacher Julio Simon, it is hard to teach during rainy seasons since the classrooms are grass thatched.
One of the Standard Two pupils Henry Mwaiwatha said the toilets are inadequate for the number of students at the school.
Speaking after the tour, Kondowe said the condition of the school clearly shows that leaders of this country are only enriching themselves forgetting the people who put them on powers.
“I am very saddened about the situation of this institute which is not worthy to be called a school, how can a school operate with no teaching and learning materials, no headteacher’s office and no school blocks yet our government is there and allocating billions to other sectors leaving education sector behind,” he said.
The CSEC director went on to say that the right to education for students at the school is being violated as they are not learning in a good environment.
He therefore pledged to make sure that government comes in and take responsibility by monitoring its programs.
The school’s headteacher Simon said the challenges need more attention both from government and development partners since the problems are resulting in school dropout more especially among girls.
He noted that Education Support Programme through World Bank is constructing two schools blocks which are not enough for the 397 pupils at the school.
Khoche Primary School is situated in the Area of Traditional Chauma in Dedza North Constituency in Mayani South Ward and was recognised by government in 1998.
The school which was built by members of the communities has students from standard 1 to 3 and four teachers.
