Alliance One donates school block, ablution

Alliance One has given a school block with modern desks and an ablution block worth K60 million (about $200 000) to Kalonga Primary School in Lilongwe City.

 

The tobacco company started helping the school 17 years ago by building all but one classroom, a teacher’s house, toilets, sinking a borehole, among others, and they want the school to be a model one, said corporate social responsibility officer Fran Malila.

“In 1995, the school had no block so we decided to help them since most of our employees come from around this area. We are thinking of adding a day secondary school,” he said, adding they will now prioritise helping the school to build a security wall.

A senior inspector of schools, Ernest Matengo, who received the items on behalf of government said that Malawi has over four million learners in its primary schools and they share around 40 000 classrooms making them overcrowded.

Parliamentarian for the Area, Shadreck Jonas, said Lilongwe City Centre has 21 government primary schools with an average 200 learners sharing a single classroom.

Chairperson for the school committee, John Dauya, asked government to reconsider School Improvement Grant (SIG) from being calculated basing on number of learners to the actual needs of the schools so that developing schools must benefit.