Nkhaboss triumphs in Atem Ned contest

By Witness Chipwere

Nkhata Bay Boys Secondary School, otherwise known as Nkhaboss, on Sunday outclassed 18 other schools in the Northern Education Division (Ned) to come out top in the Association of Teaching of English in Malawi (Atem) drama contest held at Katoto Secondary School in Mzuzu.

Nkhaboss won with their play, titled The Harvest of Poverty, and will represent the Northern Region at the Atem national finals to be held in Lilongwe next term, alongside Mchengautuba Community Day Secondary School and St Patrick’s Seminary, which came second and third, respectively.

Ned Chairperson William Phiri described the competition as the tightest and that schools put up splendid performances over the two days.

“We, as Ned, have always set the pace for Atem. This is not the first activity; we also held an essay competition in partnership with the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) and all this is to promote English language. We have broken a record by having 19 schools contesting and we had some schools that just came to familiarise themselves with the competition,” Phiri said.

Apart from the three top secondary schools, other schools that participated include Kaseghe from Chitipa, Likoma Secondary School and Mzuzu Government, St John Bosco.

Meanwhile, Phiri has hailed ACB for the partnership as the anti-graft institution was also attracted by their themes of ‘Evils of Corruption’ and ‘The Role of Youth in Combating Gender-based violence’.

“We had individual categories where students walked away with ACB branded T-shirts, medals and mugs and, for the winning school, they received a trophy and 15 pieces of ACB-branded fabric and learning materials,” Phiri said.

Atem has been quiet for close to four years and its president Dave Mpaso hailed Ned for being active and setting the ball rolling on the journey to the national finals.

“Ned has set a very good example in terms of being active and again. We commend them for holding a successful two-day event. We are now looking forward to the other contests before the final,” Mpaso said.

In the Central Region, Central East Education Division (Ceed) will hold its contest this coming Sunday at Chayamba Secondary School in Kasungu whereas Central West Education (Cwed) will hold its competition on February 18 at Mlodza Secondary School in Lilongwe.

The Southern Region is expected to hold its contest this coming Sunday.

Atem has over the years helped unearth drama talent and these include the likes of theatre greats the late Du Chisiza Jr and Gertrude Webster Kamkwatira.