The Ministry of Education has received 19 vehicles worth MK928, 000,000 which will be given to education divisions and public institutions of higher learning.
The vehicles have been procured through the Equity with Quality and Learning at Secondary (EQUALS) project, supported by World Bank.
Minister of Education Dr. William Susuwele-Banda said on Friday that the vehicles will alleviate mobility challenges that would otherwise compromise on the effective implementation of the EQUALS project.
According to Banda, the EQUALS project is aimed at strengthening mathematics and sciences instruction in Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs) and increase access and equity at secondary level.
The vehicles will be distributed to the Northern Education Division, Central East Education Division, Central West Education Division, South East Education Division, Shire Highlands Education Division and South West Education Division.
“The availability of the vehicles in the divisions will support the achievement of the project objectives by facilitating inspection of schools to ensure adherence to education standards and monitor implementation of the curriculum,” said Banda.
He added that the vehicles will be used in monitoring the implementation of the project in 13 Education Districts namely Chikwawa, Neno, Mwanza, Mulanje, Phalombe, Zomba Rural, Balaka, Mchinji, Lilongwe Rural East, Salima and Kasungu, Karonga and Chitipa.
Five vehicles will be allocated to Chancellor College, Mzuzu University, Polytechnic, Nalikule College of Education and Domasi College of Education due to their role in in training secondary school teachers.
“In the EQUALS project, these institutions will be responsible for providing in service training for the teachers and re-orienting the teachers to the new curriculum,” said Banda.
He then called upon beneficiary institutions and Departments to put the vehicles to the intended purpose to achieve the intended results of improving learning outcomes in CDSSs.
The EQUALS project which will be implemented in 12 years is the biggest project and support to the secondary subsector not only in scope but also in amount of resources (USD 90,000,000 (Approximately 68 Billion Malawi Kwacha) for the First Phase which will last six years.
