Standard Bank on Wednesday handed over a K46 million twin-classroom block to Mzuzu Government Secondary School, marking an end to limitation of classroom space at one of the country’s oldest and top performing secondary schools in the country.
Coincidentally, the official handover drew the curtain on the commemoration of the bank’s 50th anniversary that commenced early last year.
The project, whose groundbreaking took place last October, is the bank’s signature project in commemoration of its Golden Jubilee.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Chief Financial Officer, Temwani Simwaka, said the gesture towards Mzuzu Government Secondary School signifies the bank’s values towards positive transformation of livelihoods among communities across the country.
“Through this project, Standard Bank is reiterating its position that Malawi is our home and we drive her growth.
We are more than a bank because our core values strive to transform communities in the best way possible so that the desired growth is inclusive and sustainable,” said Simwaka.
Besides funding construction of the infrastructure, the bank has also furnished the new classrooms with 120 desks.
In his remarks, Director of Administration at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Hillary Namainja, thanked the bank for being an exemplary corporate player in ensuring that Malawians have access to quality education.
“Government of Malawi commends Standard Bank for this beautiful durable classroom block and furniture. This gesture will go a long way in helping government achieve its purpose of delivering quality education to all.
“Government alone cannot manage to address all problems in our schools as such there is need for other corporate players to emulate this gesture,” said Namainja.
He further asked the students to take good care of both old and new infrastructure at the school for the benefit of future generations.
The school’s head teacher, Vincent Mudolo, observed that the new classrooms will allow the school to grow its other academic faculties, now that they don’t have to relocate classes.
“Limitation of classroom space forced us to relocate some classes to Home Economics, laboratories and Special Needs Education rooms.
With these two new classes, we are now ensured of enough space for all classes. We will forever be grateful to Standard Bank for coming to our rescue.”
Mzuzu Government Secondary School, with an enrollment of over 600 students, is one of the country’s four national government secondary schools and the largest in the Northern Region.
It has for the past five years registered a pass rate above 90 percent at MSCE level, the best being in the last academic year when it scored 96%.
