{"id":67981,"date":"2018-07-04T06:01:55","date_gmt":"2018-07-04T04:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.times.mw\/?p=67981"},"modified":"2018-07-04T06:01:56","modified_gmt":"2018-07-04T04:01:56","slug":"born-in-1926-but-still-in-infancy-the-case-of-chituche-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/2018\/07\/04\/born-in-1926-but-still-in-infancy-the-case-of-chituche-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Born in 1926 but still in infancy: The case of Chituche School"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY PETER CHIPANGA <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A CONTRIBUTOR:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
LIVING IN THE PAST \u2014A grass-thatched classroom at Chituche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If the status of Chituche Junior Primary School could be a yardstick, then the old adage, that \u2018being born centuries ago does not necessary mean knowing a hyena\u2019 stands tall.<\/p>\n

This is a school established way back in 1926 thanks to the Church of Central Africa Presbytery (CCAP) that saw the need to have a learning institution in Group Village Head Liwonde, Traditional Authority Nyambi in Machinga District.<\/p>\n

But with only eight years to earn a centenary celebration, the school, which is under Chikweo Education Zone, has very little, if any to show off.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, it could be the tireless working spirit the four teachers the school boasts of in managing 624 pupils that can be something to beat a drum for.<\/p>\n

However, news that the 92-year-old school, which officials confirm registers a high school dropout rate and only goes up to Standard Six, falls short of being a school in modern Malawi.<\/p>\n

If anything, in the absence of being taken as museum, it speaks volumes of the area\u2019s social economic status and also shows how un-fair the government along with its agencies or stakeholders in the education sector.<\/p>\n

A parent of one of the pupils at the school who did not want to be identified lamented the school is shunned in many aspects that include teaching staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school has only four teachers as most shun it due to poor accessibility of the area, lack of electricity and non-existent cellphone network.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe network available is from Mozambique and you can imagine what a sorry state it is, yet we are five decades independent backed by two decades of being in a democratic state,\u201d said the disgruntled parent.<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, a senior primary school area is said to be no less than six kilometres away from the school and with poor terrain.<\/p>\n

But Chituche has a sad and terrifying situation as there is only one permanent block housing two classrooms with the rest being temporary structures comprising a grass-thatched roof supported by poles exactly the way burley tobacco barns look.<\/p>\n

The headteacher\u2019s office is all made out of grass, putting him at risk to fire and effects of extreme cold weather the area is exposed to.<\/p>\n

However, not all is lost as some entities like the Registered Trustees of Friends of Machinga recently visited the school with some quick interventions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought exercise books and pencils to the learners to make sure they do not drop out of school because of lack of writing books and pencils,\u201d said the trustees head, Wisdom Limbe.<\/p>\n

Limbe explained that they did this in line with their vision to have a district where people from rural areas are empowered to, among others, attain quality education.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Friends of Machinga, we are also into the promotion of access to health facilities and pursuing economic activities for people living in rural areas in the district,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said the grouping appreciates that there is need for concerted efforts to make sure that the area is not starved of essential services which force many pupils to drop out of school and enter into early marriages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, therefore, made sure that we come up with the donation of books purchased at a discount from Nano Investments using contributions from members of the Trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pencils were donated by Mr. Gunde of Gunde\u2019s Lodge at Liwonde while members also organised the trip and motivational talks to the pupils, teachers and the community,\u201d Limbe said.<\/p>\n

With an ego to see their children pursue education further, the local community moulded bricks in anticipation that government or some well-wishers would bail them out but, alas, the effort seem to have fallen on barren ground.<\/p>\n

On the pathetic state of the school infrastructure, Limbe said Friends of Machinga plan to mobilise resources to help build extra school blocks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that most pupils are learning under harsh conditions, as such we plan to come in by, among others, bringing awareness to the relevant authorities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWhat is pleasing is that the local community has already provided burnt bricks and what is needed is cement, iron sheets, labour and other building materials.\u201d<\/p>\n

As one way of discouraging school dropout and early marriages, Ellen Nakanga, the group\u2019s member gave a motivation speech during the visit encouraging the pupils not to get discouraged with their challenge.<\/p>\n

She told them to face the challenges head -on by working hard in class so that they excel and become productive citizens who will also be beneficial to their respective home areas.<\/p>\n

Group Village Head Liwonde, who spoke on behalf of village heads Manjolo, Mwanyumbu, Yuchi, Henesi, Nsonkho and Nkana at the function mentioned the tough times both pupils and teachers go through in the area.<\/p>\n

However, he pledged continued support, one of which was to mobilise subjects to mould other bricks and provide sand to have a full primary school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a starting point with the burnt bricks available and it is our hope that others will play their respective roles to make sure we have real school structures here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe communities are eager to have a children and better teaching environment for the teachers, so let all who can come up with various donations, initiatives and assistance do so,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Chituche Junior Primary School Head Teacher, Bonwell Mtuta, thanked Friends of Machinga for extending the donation to the Adult Literacy class saying parents are also crucial to child development and a better vision of their children.<\/p>\n

However, he lamented over the shortage of teachers and alarming school dropout rate as they are a threat to attaining better national education and social economic development.<\/p>\n

He nevertheless thanked the church, the government, traditional leaders and other stakeholders for steps made in trying to improve education standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd to the friends who have showered us with blessings of books and writing materials, we further urge you to continue assisting so that together we achieve the best,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Chikweo Primary Education Adviser, Rose Makina, encouraged people of the area to be part of the development agenda and thanked Friends of Machinga for the initiative and requested them not to abandon the spirit of assisting the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of Machinga DEM\u2019s [District Education Office] office, the DEM himself, Chikweo zone and Chituche School, I thank you for the assistance you provided to the learners, teachers and the community,\u201d she said at the function.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI appreciate the material, spiritual and encouragement through role models\u2019 pieces of advice that will help learners stay in school.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said people should not get worried that sometimes geographical conditions like that of Chituche contributes to neglect of some sort, saying just as the Friends of Machinga saw the need to help more.<\/p>\n

\u201c1926 is indeed a long time and the expectation is likely not what is on the ground. I hope something will happen to change the situation due to this visit, otherwise it is good to note that this is coming out of the love for Machinga,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Makina further observed that, in using the group to disseminate messages of hard work, perseverance and obedience, aiming high to achieve one\u2019s goals is possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope you will reach out many in other parts of Machinga so that it shouldn\u2019t be Machinga getting high marks for dropout rate, high illiteracy levels, early marriages and other crimes or immoral behaviour,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Deputy Session Clerk for Chituche CCAP Congregation, Edward Bwanaisa, a retired teacher who spares some time to teach adult literacy classes, appealed for ownership of the school by the local community and decried the practice of sending unqualified teachers to the school.<\/p>\n

Despite the hard times, the pupils were at least relieved to hear someone from the area Mercy Mleme, a commercial farmer and successful businessperson at Chikweo, encouraging them to take education seriously.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s secretary, John Banda, encouraged parents who did not go to school to attend adult literacy classes and donated exercise books to motivate them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY PETER CHIPANGA A CONTRIBUTOR: If the status of Chituche Junior Primary School could be a yardstick, then the old adage, that \u2018being born centuries ago does not necessary mean knowing a hyena\u2019 stands tall. This is a school established way back in 1926 thanks to the Church of Central Africa Presbytery (CCAP) that saw […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":67985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67987,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67981\/revisions\/67987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}