Government is reviewing school discipline polices in its quest to stem cases of vandalism and other ills that have plagued public schools in the country.
The development has come soon after cases of vandalism has rise, notably in Blantyre, Ntcheu, Dowa, and Mzuzu.
Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima Minister of Education said the development has been necessitated by the the realization that there is a need to come up with an efficient approach when handling cases related to students’ indiscipline.
They have realized that, sometimes, there are delays in making decisions when the decisions are made at central level in cases where school property has been damaged”,Kambauwa was saying this after inspecting science laboratory and library constriction works at Maghemo Secondary School and Karonga Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) in Karonga District.
The project is part of the Equity and Quality Learning at Secondary (Equals) initiative, which is being implemented in 13 districts of the country using funds provided by the World Bank.
She added that they will not sit back and watch students destroy school property because reconstruction is not cheap. They cannot allow the progress the government is making to be undermined by acts of vandalism. Violence in school is regressive. As a ministry, are, therefore, reevaluating the policies to address the problem of student indiscipline more efficiently.
She further explained that the government’s commitment to collaborating with development partners in addressing challenges such as those of inadequate infrastructure in community day secondary school.
Howard Kumwenda Karonga CDSS Head teacher hailed the government for constructing an information communication technology laboratory and library at the school.
The facilities will benefit 1,800 students as well as students from other schools within the cluster.
The facilities would enhance students’ performance in science subjects, thereby improving their chances of admission to public universities” said Kumwenda.
He concluded that they improvised lab and library but it was not worth it for the students and they have hope that all the students under this cluster will be using these structure.
