Pupils in six classes at Viyele CCAP Primary School in Mzuzu have no classrooms and learn in an unfinished church building.<\/p>\n
The pupils should have been learning in four decent blocks of two classrooms each and two teachers\u2019 houses which started in 2011 but stalled at construction level in 2013.<\/p>\n
However, Viyele is not an isolated case as two other schools in the city, Ching\u2019amba and Kanthete, are experiencing similar challenges. In fact, a Ministry of Education, Science and Technology official has disclosed that there are 15 school projects whose construction was stopped in 2013.<\/p>\n
National Construction Industry Council (NCIC), while acknowledging the extent of the problem, has fallen short of pointing fingers at anyone, saying it is \u201cvery difficult to point fingers at what really went wrong\u201d.<\/p>\n
NCIC Chief Executive Officer, Linda Phiri, said on Tuesday the solution to such challenges hinges on establishment of an infrastructure auditing wing under the National Audit office.<\/p>\n
She said NCIC has since recommended the establishment of such an entity to the government.<\/p>\n
Phiri said the issue of the three school projects in Mzuzu keep cropping up, observing that the issue was also raised in Lilongwe last year.<\/p>\n
Viyele School head teacher, Florence Mkumbwa, said on Wednesday the construction of eight classrooms and two teachers\u2019 houses at her school started on June 15, 2011 and the contractor was last seen at the project site on March 8, 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe contractor left and his foreman was chased from a house for failing to settle rental fees. Since then, officials have been coming here inspecting the slab and the last time we had Ministry (of Education, Science and Technology) and DfID [British Department for International Development] officials was on January 12, 2016. We were assured that in two weeks time, work would resume,\u201d said Mkumbwa.<\/p>\n
He said no official has explained why the project was abandoned despite the contactor assuring them that the project would be completed within 52 weeks.<\/p>\n
Mkumbwa\u2019s worry was that the school was forced to demolish temporary structures when the project started. Consequently, six classes have no permanent classrooms and learners use an unfinished church building.<\/p>\n
Parents and Teacher Association (PTA) chairperson, Alista Kondowe, said his committee made several efforts to follow up on the project but were told that the project was stopped and that a new contractor would be identified to finish it.<\/p>\n
Mzuzu City Council Education Service Committee chairperson, who is also Councillor for Luwinga Ward, Khumbo Harawa, said on Wednesday Mzuzu has three schools that are in a similar dilemma, namely Viyele, Ching\u2019amba and Kanthete. He said, upon their inquiry lately, they were told that DfID would continue the projects.<\/p>\n
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Desk Officer for the project in the department of Education, Infrastructure Management Unit, Mark Pindani, said on Wednesday he was aware of the abandoned school projects in Mzuzu and added that there are 15 others across the country<\/p>\n
However, Pindani insisted that the ministry\u2019s spokesperson, Rabecca Phwitiko was the right person to comment on the matter but we could not get hold of her.<\/p>\n
Pindani said DfID has pumped in 6.3 million Pounds (K6.7 billion) for the abandoned school projects in the country, including the three schools in Mzuzu. He said Malawi Government has also committed itself to fund some of the projects like those in Thyolo, Mulanje, Mchinji and Mchengautuba in Mzuzu.<\/p>\n
Said Pindani: \u201cThe projects stopped when donors withdrew aid during the Joyce Banda administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
A source in the ministry said DfID has decided to finish the projects to salvage its reputation which has been dented for abandoning the projects.<\/p>\n
DfID has hired Henderson Partners and IMC as project manager for the project. Engineer Anwell Chapiti said he is working with the UK-based company, IMC, to complete the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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