Msaka challenges Machinga learners, teachers on education
Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Bright Msaka has challenged teachers, learners and parents in Machinga to erase the label that depicts Machinga as one of the districts with highest illiteracy levels.
He made the challenge on Thursday at Machinga Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) where he donated learning and teaching materials to the CDSS and two others, Chinkwezule and Likwenu.
The Minister, who hails from Machinga, dared the students to emulate him and make it big adding that it is only through education that the district can develop and produce responsible citizens for the nation.
“Are you telling me that all these students here are not capable of finishing secondary school education and get selected to the University of Malawi? I managed to do it, and so can you; let’s turn Machinga into a productive and respected district,” he said.
Head Teacher for Machinga CDSS, Austin Saeed Ngachi said the donation had come at the right time and that the mobile laboratory would help the students learn in practice and not just in theory as used to be the case before.
Traditional Authority (TA) Nkula thanked government for the timely donation saying it would ease teaching and learning process in the three schools.
The TA asked government through the minister to consider building a library, computer and science labs and girls hostels which he said would reduce girls’ dropout rate which the minister said government would build all the requested structures at the school.
Earlier in the day, the minister also made similar donations to three primary schools in Liwonde, Machinga and later in the day he made similar donations to Pirimiti Primary School and two other surrounding schools.
The donations included desks, text books for all subjects and mobile laboratories and lab equipment for each of the three community day secondary schools.
How can a Minister of Education make a “donation” of learning material & equipment to his own portfolio (educational institution). This is the backward thinking that people have been talking about. There’s more that needs to be done at policy level to lift educational standards in Malawi most important of which is the review of the curriculum and allocation of correct budget to education. Leave the rest to operational staff to implement. Much needed funds are spent on funding these ministerial trips than what’s spent on resourcing educational institutions.
Za school siyilani atumbuka mijomba igulireni makina