K538m down the drain at Education

Government has, since 2006, been allocating millions of funds on an Institute of Special Needs Education (ISNE) project that has failed to take off.

Construction of the institute—which was earmarked for an area near Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe—was brought about to address the shortage of specialist teachers in schools as Montfort Special Needs Education College in Chiradzulu is the only institution offering special needs education training in the country.

But due to increasing enrolment of learners with special education needs, the college is failing to meet the demand for specialist teachers, prompting government to construct ISNE to address this problem, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Former president, the late Bingu wa Mutharika, in 2006 assured the nation that the institute would be operational by 2011 in line with the Malawi Development Goals.

Government has spent over K538 million on the project that has not taken off since the foundation stone was laid in 2006. The figure could even be higher because the ministry did not provide allocations for the 2009/10 financial year.

Information sourced from the ministry indicates that the project received K195 million in the 2006/07 financial year, K23 million (2007/08), K20 million (2010/11), K150 million (2011/12), K50 million (2012/13) and K100 million (2013/14). Parliament did not approve any funding for the 2008/9, 2014/15 and 2015/16 financial years.

In an interview, the ministry’s spokesperson, Rebecca Phwitiko, stated that the project continued to enjoy budgetary allocations although actual construction of the structure—which was estimated to cost around K13 billion—never took place.

But Phwitiko defended the ministry’s failure to roll out the project, saying all the previous budgetary allocations were not for the actual construction but to cover other costs.

“The allocations we’re receiving are for management of the project, including land processing procedures, payment of compensation, water connections to the designated land as well as conducting a study, among others,” she said.

She added: “In the initial phase of the project, there were negotiations over the acquisition of land in Lilongwe and other processes which delayed the recruitment of a consultant. Procurement processes only started in 2012/2013 and evaluation of technical proposals in 2013/2014.”

Phwitiko explained that documents in her possession indicated that only K2.8 million out of the K50 million allocated in the 2012/2013 financial year was used on the project while K5 million was spent in 2013/2014.

“The challenge in the 2013/2014 financial year was that the World Bank required proof of counterpart funding in order to proceed with the project, but by Mid-term Budget Review the K100 million that had been allocated that financial year had been removed from the budget,” she explained.

Phwitiko fell short of explaining whether this K100 million was spent on other projects, the total amount of money spent on compensations and number of people or families involved.

Further, Phwitiko could not disclose the company that was contracted to carry out the designs and how much was paid for the rendered service.

Weekend Nation has established that the lifespan of the project, which was under the Education Sector Wide Approach (Eswap), has now expired, meaning that government will have to start all over again should it want to pursue the project, according to Phwitiko.

The revelation has shocked special interest groups which have accused government of paying lip service on inclusive education.

Malawi Union of the Blind (MUB) inclusive education coordinator, Stuart Chauluka, observed that K538 is too huge an amount just for the management of the project.

“We’re worried because government appears to be transferring responsibility to train specialist teachers to non-state actors.

“Currently, Montfort Teachers’ Training College is admitting 90 students per year. This figure is very small compared to the population of learning, hearing and sight impairments in the country,” he explained.

He added: “We need an inclusive society where all learners, irrespective of their physical abilities or disabilities should be able to access education. As such, any delay to construct this institute will penalise learners with disabilities even more.”

Parents of Disabled Children Association of Malawi (Podcam) executive director, Miriam Namanja, observed that although there has been advocacy on the need to include people with disabilities in the education sector, very little is being done to enable people with disabilities enjoy their right to education.

She explained: “It was our expectation that the opening of this institute would seal some of these gaps. It is, therefore, disheartening to learn that nothing is happening on the project site.”