The Department of Buildings in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works is optimistic that construction works of the Clinic will be completed by next Month.

Meanwhile the contractor is doing finishing works on the access road and carpark.

According to the project manager Davies Mbewe the department of building is expected to handover a complete furnished clinic comprising of two holding rooms, General store, Linen stores, Drug stores, Sluice, two Examination rooms, Dispensary, Laboratory and Specimen stores, Registration and records room, In-Charge Office, Staffroom and Kitchenette and Public Change rooms.

When completed the clinic will help civil servants working at capital hill and the vicinity to easily access health services during working hours.

Blantyre, May 31, Mana: National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) says they are pleased with the just ended 2022/2023 hundred percent online university selection application process saying the process has made the number of applicants to grow.

Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, NCHE Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ambumulire Phiri said the introduction of the 100 percent online application this year was aimed at ensuring that applicants should apply anytime where they are.

“NCHE has made commendable progress in working with the Public Universities to harmonise selection since 2014/2015 and this includes the introduction of partial online application in 2018/2019 and this year, we implemented a 100% online process. Previously applicants could use both ways to apply but now it’s strictly online.

“In collaboration with the Public Universities, we are processing the data. However, we are very hopeful that this year there has been an increase in the number of applicants.  The ease of the process, the effective information dissemination and the increase in number of qualifying candidates may have contributed,” said Phiri.

She said despite the positive strides, the application process system encountered hurdles to do with how applicants interacted with the system as some candidates forgot their passwords while some attempted to create multiple accounts adding that all candidates affected by these challenges were assisted to complete their applications.

Commenting on the issue, education expert, Limbani Nsapato hailed the online application system but worried that some deserving students especially from rural and remote areas might have been left out due to challenges in access to technology, electricity, high data bundle prices and slow internet.

“We stand to see what will be the final outcome, but basically as a country, we have a lot of limitations with online processes, so we just wish that NCHE should be on the lookout in case there are issues they should find ways of accommodating those problems faced by some students.”

NCHE opened the call for applications for the 2022/23 selection to Public Universities on 3^rd April 2023 and was scheduled to close on May 26, 2023, but the due date was extended to May 26, 2023, to accommodate individuals who may have experienced time constraints or faced challenges during the initial application period.

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Machinga, May 31, Mana: Ministry of Education has launched Malawi Education Reform Programme (MEREP), a school leadership initiative, which aims at expanding access, improving quality education and performance of the primary schools’ sub-sectors.

Speaking during the launch at Hippo View Lodge in Machinga district, the Minister responsible Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima said the programme which is being implemented in all primary schools in the country, will instill leadership management skills in primary school leaders.

"We are rolling out this MEREP to 10, 200 individuals in all categories across the country. Mainly we are targeting Head teachers, Deputy Head teacher's and sections heads with mostly bias towards women.

“On the leadership programme, we are seeking to address several issues such as inclusiveness in schools by ensuring that women are not left behind including record keeping to consolidate data and teacher motivation," explained Wirima.

Wirima further disclosed that the programme will also include the construction of school blocks which will commence soon to address shortages of classrooms in primary schools.

She added,” we are going to construct 10, 900 classroom blocks in 3553 schools among other components and the construction work will commence as soon as procurement processes are finalized.

Meanwhile, head teacher for Kaombe Primary School in Ntcheu district Wasuzgika Simakwa commended the Ministry for the programme saying it will help to improve quality of education in primary schools across the country.

"This will help to reduce congestion in schools since we are forced to have larger population of children in one class especially during the rainy season, a situation which is not conducive for learning," said Simakwa.

The programme which is being funded by the World bank, Global partnership in education and Malawi government was established in 2021 and will be completed in 2025.

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Lilongwe, May 30, Mana: Forum for African Women Educationalists Malawi (FAWEMA) Executive Director, Wesley Chabwera says there is need for teachers and school administrators to mainstream gender responsive methodologies in school programmes to improve learning outcomes of boys and girls.

Chabwera said this in Salima on Tuesday, during the opening of a five day Gender Responsive Pedagogy training for education officials organised by FAWEMA.

FAWEMA is, through the Innovations in Health Rights and Development (iHEARD) project the organisation is implementing in conjunction with Ministry of Education, using the gender responsive pedagogy model.

iHEARD is a five year project funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) targeting 3,000,000 adolescent girls and young women aged between 10-24 years in primary and secondary schools to dismantle barriers that affect girls in the realisation of their sexual and reproductive health rights

Chabwera said the pedagogy model is building capacity of teachers and school administrators to ensure that there is gender equality in schools.

“We are working with the Ministry of Education to build capacity of teachers and school administrators to ensure that there is equality in schools as regards management in terms of gender by ensuring that pedagogical processes that teachers employ in the classrooms are gender responsive and taking care of   the needs of boys and girls so that they are equally engaged but also participate in classrooms,” he said.

He said although there is progress in gender equality in schools, evidence shows that girls are lagging behind in terms of school enrolment in upper classes.

“Girls are dropping out in upper classes compared to boys, because of societal and cultural beliefs so we want to ensure that teachers pay attention to the needs of boys and girls to ensure that girls are retained in schools.

“We want teachers to change attitudes and perceptions around gender equality, we want the language they use and materials in classrooms are gender responsive,” he said.

FAWEMA Programmes Manager, Mphatso Kapalamula,  the gender responsive pedagogy training will  impart skills and knowledge to education officials who will in turn train teachers on topics such as  gender responsive teaching resources, gender responsive  lesson planning , gender responsive  language use, among others.

Education Division Manager for Central East Education Division, Billy Chikhwana Banda said some of the gender disparities happening in most schools are largely contributed by teachers and school authorities.

“We have noted that some of the gender issues happening in our schools are because of the teachers themselves. We have noted that some teachers bully or mistreat learners in terms of punishment and use of abusive words to female learners when they fail to answer questions. This is a critical gender gap, coupled with a shortage of resources the learning environment for girls becomes hostile so we want teachers to change their way of  treating the girls in our schools,” he explained.

He appealed to participants to the training to use the training as an opportunity to engage gender issues that affect schools to ensure that the trainings are worth impacting on communities and school authorities to change their mindset.

“With the support we are getting from FAWEMA we are sure that with intense monitoring and supervisions we will address gender gaps. We want the administrators and teachers to change their mindset before they start changing the minds of other stakeholders,” he explained. 

A participant to the training, Loyce Tembo said the skills acquired through the training will help her train more teachers to mainstream gender issues in their programmes.

“We will use the skills gained to train more teachers to be gender sensitive when teaching. Most girls are left behind, because teachers do not create a conducive environment for learning,” she said.

The training has targeted 14 participants who include School Health and Nutrition Coordinators from Lilongwe Rural West, Dowa, Ntchisi, Central East Education Division and Central West Education Division, Primary Education Advisors and FAWEMA volunteers from the three districts.

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Mangochi, May 29, Mana:  Islamic Relief Malawi, a faith-humanitarian and development agency, has embarked on a K2 billion worth project in Mangochi to alleviate sexual abuse, poverty, and food insecurity in the district.

Speaking during presentation of the project to stakeholders in Mangochi on Friday, Food Security and Livelihood Coordinator for Islamic Relief Malawi, Christopher Malamba said the project, which will run for three years in Traditional Authority (TA) Mponda, follows an assessment which showed that the area is falling behind in the fight against sexual abuse as well as food security.

“In our 2022 survey, we established that due to cultural practices, Gender Based Violence (GBV) is increasingly continuing in areas of Group Village Headmen Mponda, Muchande and Chipeta, under TA Mponda in Mangochi. Most affected groups are girls and women, and in other cases even boys.

“This violence includes sexual abuse, finance-related, physical abuse, and emotional abuse,” said Malamba.

He said the survey also showed poor performance of agriculture production, a development which is leading to chronic food and nutritional insecurities by most people in the district.

Malamba, therefore, said based on the established gaps, the organisation secured funding worth over K2 billion to implement the project aimed at reducing vulnerability of women and girls.

The project is also aimed at improving food and nutritional security of 3,000 vulnerable smallholder households in the three villages.

Malamba said amongst main activities that they intend to implement within three-year project include raising awareness on issues affecting adolescent girls and women, supporting community structures in addressing harmful cultural practices that lead to early marriages and pregnancies, as well as providing start-up grant to 150 village saving and loans association to implement resilient collective businesses.

Agriculture, Gender Roles Extension Support Services Officer for Mangochi, Chimwemwe Chisenga commended Islamic Relief for the project saying that it will help vulnerable communities to be self-reliant.

Chisenga said that due to lack of support by guardians, many adolescent girls in Mangochi get married earlier, a development which results into teenage pregnancies.

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Blantyre, April 24, Mana: Stakeholders in technology and gender say all is set for the 2023 commemoration of the International Girls in ICT Day slated for April 27 in Blantyre.

The commemoration which will be held under the theme: Digital Skills for Life is targeting women and girls from different sectors.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA), spokesperson for the organisers, Chimwemwe Kaonga said commemoration will also interrogate the position of the gender digital gap in Malawi and how to promote Science, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) subjects among girls.

The “We want to share the common understanding that digital transformation provides new avenues for the empowerment of women and girls. However, discrimination, negative stereotypes and social cultural biases create challenges for women and girls to strive in a highly digital economy and society,” said Kaonga.

This year’s commemoration will launch Her Tech Magazine which has profiled a number of women who have made strides in the area of STEM.

Kaonga added that these fields are male-dominated and most girls lack role models in STEM hence the launch of magazine so that as a girl child reads it, she should be inspired and motivated to pursue a similar field.

President for Information, Communications and Technology Association of Malawi (ICTAM), Clarence Gama said it is a good initiative as women are often underrepresented in this field which can result in missed opportunities for both individuals and the industry as a whole.

"This will help increase diversity in the ICT industry, leading to a more creative and innovative workforce and is particularly important in developing countries like Malawi where access to technology and digital skills can be limited for girls due to cultural and societal norms," said Gama.

The commemoration is being organised by Her for Tech, Women for Social Change (W4SC), Centre for Governance and Leadership (CEGOL), Sparc Systems Limited, Inq. Digital Malawi and Times Group.

The International Girls in ICT Day was designated in 2011 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), an agency of the United Nations.

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Thyolo, June 2, Mana: Member of Parliament for Thyolo Central, Dr. Ben Phiri on Thursday donated a set of jerseys to Thyolo Police Station football team to help the team compete favorably in the ongoing Eastern Commissioners Trophy.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana), Phiri said the donation was one way of encouraging the police officers to participate in sporting activities because this will help to promote their physical fitness. 

Phiri said promoting sporting activities among the security officers will help to keep their bodies in shape; hence, will work effectively in fighting against crime in the district.

Thyolo Police Station Officer In-Charge, Isaac Norman applauded the legislator for the donation; saying sporting activities among the officers will promote and strengthen relationship between communities and police officers because the two parties will have the opportunity to interact socially.

“This valuable contribution will undoubtedly enhance unity amongst police officers and the communities in different formations and it will also enhance the sharing of crime information,” he said.

He appealed to other well-wishers in the country to emulate the example by Phiri, noting it is the responsibility of citizen to fight against crime in the country. 

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Lilongwe, May 29, Mana: The High Court of Malawi has granted an order for an interlocutory injunction restraining Minister of Homeland Security and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services from seizing nine containers belonging to a refugee, Sylvestre Bizimana.

The injuction further restrains disrupting his business and forcing him and his family to move to Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa until after the determination of the judicial review or until a further order is made by the court.

The claimant, filed an application on May 18, 2023 before Justice Howard Pemba for permission to commence judicial review of the Minister of Homeland Security and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services (defendants) decision to force him and his family to move to Dzaleka Refugee Camp.

The claimant also applied for an interlocutory injunction restraining the defendants from, among others, forcing him and his family to move to Dzaleka Refugee Camp until the final determination of the judicial review.

This is not the first time that refugees and asylum seekers have obtained a court injunction stopping government from relocating them to Dzaleka Refugee Camp since issues of their relocations started 13 years ago.

In a judicial review cause number 20 of 2023, Justice Howard Pemba granted permission to Sylvestre Bizimana to apply for judicial review while the application for an interlocutory injunction was ordered to come for an inter partes hearing on May 25, 2023.

Surprisingly, both the Minister of Homeland Security and Director General of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services as 1^st and 2^nd defendants respectively did not show up and no good reason was proffered to the court by the defendants for their failure to attend the hearing.

“In view of these circumstances, the court allowed the claimant, Bizimana, to proceed with the hearing in the absence of the defendants,” reads part of the order.

Bizimana in his application for judicial review claims to be a Malawian after following all due processes. He attached a number of documentary evidence such as his national identity card, a certificate of naturalisation as a citizen of Malawi, tax clearance certificate from Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and a certificate of registration for his business premises licence from Lilongwe City Council (LCC) to prove that he is a Malawian.

The defendants are regarding Bizimana as one of the illegal immigrants hence enforcing a policy that he is not authorised to conduct his businesses at Mgona Market in Lilongwe where he has his nine containers containing agricultural produce.

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Mangochi, May 29, Mana: Stakeholders in Mangochi have expressed concern over increased cases of gender-based violence (GBV) in the district, saying are resulting into unwanted pregnancies.

Speaking Saturday during an interface meeting on sexual reproductive health rights organised by Go Fund a Girl Child, Victim Support Unit Officer for Mangochi Police Station, Inspector Maggie Karroti said for the past four months her office has recorded an increase in number of cases such as un-procedural divorce, rape, as well as defilement.

Karroti said the development is hindering rights of many young girls in the district, including their right to good health.

“From January to April this year my office has recorded a total of 261 cases of GBV, of which most cases were rape and defilement. This is against 198 cases that were recorded during the same period last year. This, indicates that as a district we are not doing fine, on protection of women and girls,” said Karroti.

Coordinator for Post Abortion Care for Mangochi District Council, Mathews Ntemang’ombe, said the development is resulting into many young girls in the district having early pregnancies.

Ntemang’ombe said last year alone Mangochi registered 15,343 cases of early pregnancies.

He added that his office assisted 1,058 patients who had terminated their pregnancies.

“Out of these cases, those who were of ages between 10 to 19 were around 280, and we lost three due to complications resulting from abortions,” said Ntemang’ombe.

In her remarks, Programmes Officer for Go Fund a Child, Hawa Shabir said the organisation is, currently, advocating for access to sexual reproductive health rights, including the right to safe abortion, in order to ensure that girls in Mangochi are living in safe environment.

“As an organisation, the development has led us to start advocating for access to sexual reproductive health rights for youths.

“We want to want to see that youths in the country are able to access safe abortion, as the current laws have restrictions over the same,” said Shabir.

The interface meeting attracted youths, faith and traditional leaders in Mangochi.

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