By George Bulombola
Mzuzu, September 5, Mana: Government says will depoliticise the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in its efforts to improve the education system and indicators in the country.
Minister of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), Agnes NyaLonje disclosed the plan on Thursday at Mzuzu University (Mzuni) where she, alongside her deputy interacted separately with the academia from Mzuni and University of Livingstonia (Unilia).
NyaLonje said the education sector has been politicised for the past years, a development which she said impacted negatively on the country’s education system, hence the need to detach education from politics.
“Politicisation of education has led to unfair distribution of resources to learning institutions and that most of such institutions have fallen victims of the malpractice,” said NyaLonje.
She said it was high time that the allocation of resources to learning institutions is based on evidence and well analysed data.
“Using evidence derived from well analysed data will lead to fair and reasonable allocation of resources to the institutions, thereby bringing improvement in the sector at all levels,” she said.
The minister also challenged the academia to be in the forefront in investing in research activities whose results can assist government in developing models for sustainable technical and academic comprehensive education.
“You should not underrate yourselves, you have the power to create the way of doing things, therefore, I encourage you to be innovative,” said the minister.
She also emphasised the need for improved early childhood development (ECD), saying the current approach to ECD leaves much to be desired as it does not serve the intended purpose.
NyaLonje said ECDs in most cases are run as projects, yet they are supposed to be part of the education system.
“We need the academia to provide us with data which can be easily analysed and tell stories. This data should assist us in developing models which can make ECD sustainable as part of the education system,” said NyaLonje.
Commenting on the re-opening of schools which were closed due to COVID-19, NyaLonje said all is set for the re-opening of all teaching and learning institutions and that mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that COVID-19 prevention measures are adhered to amidst the pandemic.
“We have engaged all stakeholders on this issue, as we consider the right-to-life, we also have an eye on the right to education. If we maintain our schools closed, then we will be leading the country to a disaster,” she said.
In their remarks, both Vice Chancellors for Mzuni and Unilia, Prof. John Saka and Dr. Timothy Nyasulu respectively, pledged their universities’ continued commitment in providing quality education.
