By Vincent Gunde

The Malawi Human Rights Resource Center ( MHRRC) says it is advocating for enough resources from government and Civil Society to build schools with its roofs roofed with iron sheets in Ntchisi district claiming that tiles can become dangerous when they break and fall  on the learners in the classrooms.

This was revealed after a media advocacy tour which took journalists to some schools in Ntchisi district to appreciate the resources allocated to it  thereby collecting information which will assist to advocate for resource allocation in case the council has not allocated enough resources for the schools that they monitored.

During the media advocacy tour in Ntchisi, journalists accompanied by District Social Accountability Committee ( DSAC) visited Mthawira LEA School at Malomo where they were told that some learners were learning outside the school in an Anglican church, the school has received a good response from the Council, two blocks have been constructed from MERP programme.

Speaking to the journalists, Head teacher of the school MacLoud Mchizampheta, said there’s community participation at the school addressing some of the challenges faced by the school citing a toilet which  collapsed saying the community has promised to build another one.

Mchizampheta said because of the cooperation that is existing between the teachers and community members, the school has managed to buy a new printing machine at K1.3 million saying this has improved performance by the learners.

The journalists visited Mbomba LEA School where a Standard 8 learner Innocent Kalengenya said absenteeism and drop out of learners at the school is very high claiming that at one time, a tile broke from the roof of the classroom and fall on a learner who sustained some injuries saying this contributed to some learners moving away from the school to Dete LEA School which has iron sheets on the classroom roofs.

The media tour ended with a visit to Mtambalala LEA School where a Standard 8 learner Yesinta Chisakasa said two classroom blocks and an office are roofed with tiles which are posing a threat to teaching and learning and has no water.

Chisakasa told journalists that learners do carry buckets from their homes to school to be used for drawing unsafe water from their nearby river for drinking and mopping, saying they are being encouraged that when coming to school, they should carry with them water in plastic bottles for drinking.

She said a borehole was sank at the school and it is producing no water and as such teachers, learners, and the schools’ surrounding community have no where to run but to use the unprotected water from the river.
” Learners who don’t want to carry bottles with water from home are forced to go to the river to drink water using their hands or other sources,” said Chisakasa.

MHRRC’s Capacity Building Development Associate Noel Msiska, has called on government or the council to be committed to make sure that all these classroom blocks should be roofed with iron sheets, saying tiles have a short lifespan and have run out of their time.

Msiska said in some schools of the district, the classrooms are old and dilapidated saying these are not conducive learning environment for the learners.

He expressed gratitude with this media tour for journalists saying the issues identified will inform and provide evidence for advocacy to improve service delivery by the council and government itself.

” This is the time for government to start planning of very good infrastructures that would display a commitment to 2063,” said Msiska.

The media advocacy tour for journalists was organized by the MHRRC with funds from  NCA DCA through DANIDA project under the joint country programme.

.