The government has disclosed that it is reviewing school discipline policies in its quest to stem cases of vandalism and other ills that have plagued public schools in the country.
The development comes at a time cases of school vandalism have been on the rise, notably in Blantyre, Ntcheu, Dowa and Mzuzu, among other places.
Education Minister Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima said the move has been necessitated by the realisation that there is a need to come up with an efficient approach when handling cases related to students’ indiscipline.
“For example, we have realised 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 Wirima said after inspecting science laboratory and library construction works at Maghemo Secondary School and Karonga Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) in Karonga District.
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The projects are 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.
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“The ministry will not sit back and watch students destroy school property because reconstruction is not cheap. We cannot allow the progress the government is making to be undermined by acts of vandalism. Violence in schools is regressive. We, as a ministry, are, therefore, reevaluating our policies to address the problem of student indiscipline more efficiently,” she said.
She further reiterated the government’s commitment to collaborating with development partners in addressing challenges such as those of inadequate infrastructure in community day secondary schools.
Kambauwa Wirima cited the problem of shortage of classroom blocks as one area that concerted efforts.
On his part, Karonga CDSS Head teacher Howard Kumwenda hailed the government for constructing an information communication technology laboratory and library at the school.
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“These facilities will benefit our 1,800 students as well as students from other schools within the cluster.
Kumwenda emphasised that the facilities would enhance students’ performance in science subjects, thereby improving their chances of admission to public universities.
“We had an improvised lab and library but it was not worth it for the students and we have a hope that all the students under this cluster will be using these structures,” Kumwenda said.
