As other schools in Blantyre and Lilongwe are on a two-week extended holiday due to the rising cases of cholera, authorities at Maranatha Academy have temporarily moved their two campuses out of the commercial city.
This comes as government through the National Taskforce on COVID-19 and Cholera announced that primary and secondary schools in the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe will delay by at least two weeks due to continued rising of cholera cases in the cities.
However, Maranatha Academy says their boys and girls campuses have temporarily moved and settled for Balaka and Zalewa in Neno where classes for Form Four and form two students are expected to start this Monday, 9th January, 2023.
According to the school’s managing director, Ernest Kaonga, the school arrived at the decision as one way of making sure that form two and four students are not left behind in terms of syllabus, arguing that their friends in other schools are in classes while they are on a two-week extended holiday.
He further indicated that the two-week extended holiday is just too much time to waste especially to someone who is expected to sit for exams in few months coming hence the school management’s decision.
“We cannot afford to lose about two weeks for our students while their friends who will sit for the same examinations are learning, so, we have secured premises within Balaka township, while the boys are at Zalewa in Neno,” said Kaonga.
Kaonga who backed the decision as being within the taskforce’s guidelines, further mentioned that after the stipulated two weeks, these form two and four students will move back to theirs usual campuses in Blantyre.
On Thursday, concerned parents from Lilongwe and Blantyre together with Union of Private School Teachers (UPST) gave government 48 hours to rescind its decision, saying if Blantyre and Lilongwe schools will remain closed on Monday 9th January, they will hold vigils at Ministry of education offices in Lilongwe.
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