CHILDREN LEARNING IN TEACHER’S HOUSE

KETRA KALUNGA writes PUPILS under Early Childhood Education at Mukalashi Primary School in Chibombo district in Central Province are using one of the dilapidated staff houses built in 1965 as a classroom because of lack of classroom space at the institution. The plight of the children has worried parents. Parents Teachers Association (PTA) chairperson Phineas Matiyese […]

CHILDREN LEARNING IN TEACHER’S HOUSE
KETRA KALUNGA writes PUPILS under Early Childhood Education at Mukalashi Primary School in Chibombo district in Central Province are using one of the dilapidated staff houses built in 1965 as a classroom because of lack of classroom space at the institution. The plight of the children has worried parents. Parents Teachers Association (PTA) chairperson Phineas Matiyese said the school, which caters for about 29 villages including those in the nearby Kapiri Mposhi district only has eight classrooms against the population of over 1,900 pupils. Mr Matiyese said that management had been forced to accommodate about 30 pupils from the early childhood section in one of the staff houses after the school was upgraded to a secondary school. “The school has a challenge of classroom space. So we have accommodated children in the early childhood section in one of the houses for teachers which is not that conducive,” Mr Matiyese said. He said to mitigate the challenge the school’s management, working with the community, had embarked on the construction project of a block of three classrooms. Mr Matiyese said the community had so far raised some money which had been used to buy 2,900 building blocks and 20 pockets of cement to start the project. He said the school management had an excess of about 12,000 blocks and 250 pockets of cement needed to complete the project. “As the community, we have been involved and we have bought 2,900 blocks and 250 pockets of cement so that we can help the school management construct a one by three classroom block, but we need help from the government and other well-wishers,” Mr Matiyese said. Mr Matiyese appealed for help from the government through the district education board secretary’s office so that the project could be completed as soon as possible. The school, despite having the challenge of classroom space, had been upgraded to a secondary school with some pupils coming from Kapiri Mposhi district which shares a boundary with Chibombo district. 20 villagers drag headman to court The Sun