There is an out cry from the people of the North who feel cheated by President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera and his MCP government for bringing back quota system of selecting students to secondary schools after the DPP government abolished prior to elections in 2019.
Chakwera in his manifesto promised the people of the north that once voted into power he will abolish quota system of selecting students to secondary schools and university.
“I don’t want quota to end but I want it to be dead as well”, said Chakwera in his rhetoric whenever he visited northern region during campaign period.
But the primary school selection results which the Ministry of Education has released indicate otherwise that quota system has been revived by the MCP government to continue oppress the north people as numbers suggest that only 182 students from the north have been selected to go National Government Secondary Schools against the 749 from South and 929 from the Central region respectively.
For example Chitipa and Karonga Districts have for the first time in the history of Malawi failed to send a student to Chaminade Secondary School which is in Karonga a sign that quota system has been revived to punish the people of northern region.
Phalombe district has sent 122 students to secondary schools against the entire north that has sent only 182 students.
Writing on his Facebook Page, Deputy Speaker of Parliament has accused the Malawi Examination Board for sabotaging MCP government on maintaining quota system which is untrue because selection of students to secondary schools is done by the Ministry of Education and not otherwise.
But still his point is that quota system has been used to dent MCP government. Kazombo comes from Kasungu District.
Reports indicate that north parents will this week demonstrate against this year’s selection to prove to Chakwera that he has failed them.
“We cannot go on like this in this country. It’s not a secret that Chakwera has cheated us on this. He is a hypocrite. We thought he is a Man of God and he shall live by his words but what we are seeing in Malawi now is total nuisance. We have been taken as fools now after we overwhelmingly voted for them and removing DPP from levers of power. But am not surprised with MCP antics. They hate people from the north from long time ago”, said one Livingstonia Synod Reverend who did not want to be mentioned because it’s only the offices of Moderator and General Secretary who speak on behalf of the Synod according to the protocol.
Liivinstonia Synod is expected to issue a Press Statement to condemn the selection based on quota system.
Former Member of Parliament for Karonga Central, Frank Tumpale Mwenefumbo has also denounced the Chakwera government for bringing back quota system of selecting students.
“At a time when we thought quota system was dead and buried, it has come back with a painful sting on our children shuttering any hope for their future, whilst emotions are high let us embrace ethos of oneness and never allow them to overrun the best of us and to divide the Nation, I urge you” says Mwenefumbo writing on his Facebook Page.
Surprisingly the Speaker of Parliament, Cathrene Gotani Hara, Chenda Mkandawire( MCP VP North, Rev Maurice( PRO) Munthali and Timothy Mtambo( Minister), who were vocal during DPP against quota system have kept quite on this one.
The social media is awash with this year’s selection and MCP government has received a ‘baptism of fire’ from people mainly from the north at point that DPP cadets are mocking UTM members who joined MCP alliance to remove DPP from government.
But MCP social media team feels that DPP strategist(cadets) who are at the Ministry of education are sabotaging the President and his MCP government but have failed to provide evidence to that effective.
During Kamuzu Banda autocratic rule, MCP government sent ‘home’ all northern region teachers who were teaching in other regions.
Chaminade, Mzuzu government and Nkhatabay secondary schools are amongst the best schools in the North. Coincidentally, the Minister of Education, Catherine Nyalonje comes from Mzimba district.
Don’t blame Maneb: blame yourselves: you are busy feeling comfy and forgetting your role in this important ministry: Education.
Learn to follow up on your Manifesto: if there is any! (MCP/Tonse Alliance)
I wish MCP was alone in this govt!
No Excuses: TONSE Aliance isn’t helping us: dont blame Chakwera.
Remember!
The Regional Segregation runs deep: for us who have faced it: lived with it: seen it the whole of our lives…
The issue here is that the north wants to send more children to sec schs and our universities despite students from other regions doing well and are selected on merit. So which is which? Bringing quota back to make every district send their children to national sec schs and universities because the north has failed to secure national sec schs? Mr kadzombo, of cause the north gave you 1m + votes, so what system of selection do you want to use here to appease the ungodly livingstonia synod. Nowadays people from other regions are also working hard and even their teachers. Even in phalombe some of the students who scooped better grades have been left. Kodi sukulu yomangofuna kumapitako ambiri koma no results on the ground ndiye yamtundu wanji. U tribalism ndi u nepotism uja ndiye umenewu mukumva a livingstonia. Panopa ndi merit and no more quota komabe mukuliranso. There is no way God can make one region more intelligent than the other, zero. We are equal before God. Kudzikonda uku nkwachabe tonse ndi amodzi.
If you look at figures quota was not effected. If it were, then we would have almost balanced figures for all the regions. Ok, what is quota system mr deputy speaker? Does it mean quota system is when the north performs badly and when it leads then its not? In this case, isn’t this tribalism and nepotism? Why always make noise when the north doesn’t perform well? Just tell kenyatta to overturn the results and call for fresh exams. Another thing is, which statistics do these people use? Basing on regions or district of origin? Do they keep in mind that almost in all regions there are people from the north whose kids sat for the exams but in those regions. Does it mean the only class of people worthy selection are those from the north? Nanga a livingstinia, how many teachers from other regions have you employed? What about students in your schools? Stop pointing fingers at others before you clean your house. These other people are just unGodly.
To all Malawians especially fellow Malawians from the north I would like to tell you that do not be misled by people who are hell bent on regionalism……..the fact of the matter is that, as LMC said in parliament that the quota system of selecting students into public institutions is dead and buried that is exactly what has happened this year in this selection.
The problem is that for far too long we have been misled into the notion that that people from the north are more intelligent than people from the other regions in Malawi which is totally bullshit.
The fact that percentage wise more students from the north have pass the PSLC exams doesn’t mean that it will translate into more students from that region being selected into national secondary schools……..because the selection was based on quality and not quantity.
For those who do not understand the history of our country I would like to remind you that before.Malawi got its independence from the British, the northern region had an upper hand on our education system because there were more missionaries in the north of the country thanks to the cool weather in that region.
With more missionaries in the north at the time it also meant that there were more schools in the north than the other regions per capita. this is why for many years even after independence, proportionally there were more educated people in the north, but that situation was changed a long time ago and northerners should come to terms with this reality. In fact the north is now lugging behind in terms of quality of education and this is what we as a nation we need to address……..because quota system is dead and buried.