The Japanese Government has given about K220 million to the Ministry of Education meant for a face lifting of Ngwenya Primary School in Lilongwe and Karonga CCAP Girls Secondary School in Karonga.
For Ngwenya Primary School, a contract valued at $48,029 (approximately K82 million), was signed and is meant for the construction of four toilet blocks for girls, a security fence, and a guard house.
While for Karonga CCAP Girls Secondary School, a contract valued at $93,569 (approximately K160 million) was also signed meant for the construction of laboratory and library blocks.
Signing the grant contract in Lilongwe on Tuesday, Japanese Ambassador to Malawi Yoichi Oya has reaffirmed his country’s commitment to improve education in Malawi.
“Many schools in Malawi struggle to provide a safe and dignified learning environment for students especially girls as such Japan has decided to support Ngwenya Primary School so that the project will provide safety and dignity for the girls to contribute to more girls in schools,” he said.
On her part, Headteacher for Ngwenya Primary School, Esther Kadzakuwani expressed gratitude to the Japanese government for the grant.”Our students were living in fear and constantly met with threats from civilians that had easy access to the school due to the lack of a fence,” she said.
During the second grant signing ceremony, OYA expressed his belief that the project will bridge the gap of non-availability of necessary infrastructure to support Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM ) subjects.
Echoeing the Ambassador’s sentiments, Headteacher for Karonga CCAP Girls Secondary School, Chimwemwe Mithi said the project will increase the performance of the students.
“Our students performed poorly in Science subjects due to the lack of the library and laboratory but with the coming in of these developments, more students will be eager to take up Science subjects.” She said.
The two projects: The Project for the improvement of Ngwenya Primary School in Lilongwe District and Project for the Construction of a Laboratory and Library Block at Karonga CCAP Girls Secondary School in Karonga District, are provided under the Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects .
