By Shadreck Sindiza, contributor:
Beautify Malawi Trust (Beam) has rolled out sensitisation workshops for primary and secondary school teachers across the country to promote their role in improving sanitation in schools.
The initiative follows the national launch of the ‘My Clean School, My Pride’ campaign earlier this year by the Trust’s Patron, First Lady Gertrude Mutharika.
The first phase of the workshops has covered the Upper Shire Education Division, reaching 15 education zones across Mulanje, Phalombe and Chiradzulu districts and involving nearly 202 primary and secondary schools.
Beam Trust Board Chairperson Dingiswayo Jere said teachers and learners would be key to ensuring the campaign achieves lasting results when the new academic year begins.
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“We are reaching out to the school management so that when school starts, they should have already embraced the whole dream and vision that the First Lady has for the ‘My Clean School, My Pride’ campaign,” Jere said.
He said the sensitisation campaign would cover all regions of the country to ensure that every school is involved.
“As the schools are starting, we are now coming up with the whole calendar where we want to cover the whole country: in the North, Centre, Eastern Region and here in the Southern Region as well. We want to make sure that each and every school gets involved,” he said.
Davies Kachingwe, Primary Education Advisor for Mpasa Zone, said the campaign would complement existing sanitation initiatives while improving pupils’ welfare.
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“This is a very welcome and commendable development. Surely, it will bolster existing sanitation efforts within school premises while improving overall student welfare,” Kachingwe said.
The sensitisation sessions also introduced guidelines for an inter-school sanitation competition, which is expected to begin with the new academic calendar in September.
According to Beam Trust officials, the competition will encourage schools to take greater responsibility for maintaining clean and hygienic learning environments while promoting a culture of environmental stewardship among learners and educators.
