Students at the K150,000 a term Thondwe Village Polytechnic in Zomba have held demonstrations over lack of potable water and toilets at the college, saying they cross the Zomba-Limbe road to access the only toilet which is also in a forest.
The college has about 100 students and they are demanding the college management to take into consideration grievances.
According to the students, the college has one pit latrine and the students have to cross the busy Zomba-Limbe load to access it.
The students are also demanding the management to provide them with health food and clean water.
Currently, the school uses very dirty water from unprotected and uncovered well which is also just 15 metres from a pit-latrine that is not in use because it is full.
“We are at risk, for instance last term two students were bitten by snakes at the campus. As well we are not secured because we are using a toilet for which we cross a very busy road, putting our lives at risk to road accidents, we find it difficult during night hours to access the toilets as it is in a forest at a distance of more than 500 metres from the campus,” said one of the students.
Thondwe Village Polytechnic is owned by the Roman Catholic Church and is under Zomba Diocese.
According to the students, they have been presenting their grievances to the church for over three terms now but the issues have not been resolved.
