MANAonline
Montfort graduates 143 Specialist Teachers
By James Kanyenda
Lilongwe, January 27, MANA: Minister of Education, Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima has expressed optimism that the newly graduated specialist teachers will add value to the country’s education.
Speaking Saturday at Montfort Special Needs Education College during the graduation of 143 specialist teachers who have been awarded Diplomas in Special Needs education, Wirima said the skills acquired by the teachers would assist them in managing learners with diverse learning needs.
“Today, many countries in the world are moving towards inclusion aimed at achieving Education for All (EFA) and Sustainable Development Goal Number 4 that advocates for inclusive education, which is in line with the Malawi 2063 Agenda,” said the minister.
She added that government, under the leadership of Dr Lazarus Chakwera through Ministry of Education is geared to implement the Malawi 2063 agenda by producing high performing professional public service providers through different colleges and what Montfort Special Needs Education College is doing is in line with this quest.
The minister also advised the graduates to continue studying, learn from well experienced teachers in the field for them to keep abreast with the field and become effective and efficient specialist teachers.
Wirima acknowledged challenges encountered in the provision of quality special needs and inclusive education such as inadequate teachers, specialized teaching, learning and assessment resources as well as resource Centre’s, special and vocational training schools.
“On these issues, my ministry is critically looking into strategies to employ in order to provide all the best needed in the system. On the issue of resources my ministry budgets for procurement of specialized teaching and learning resources for learners with diverse needs and this budget keeps on increasing.
In the past years my ministry has procured Braille papers, embossing papers, Audiometers, Embossers, Perkins braille’s Desk Top Computers, Printers, Projectors, Wheelchairs just to mention a few, on budget for the materials, the current administration found it at K200 million for a financial year and as of now it’s at K650 million and for the 2024/25 fiscal year it will be revised upwards to a billion,” she added.
She said government remains committed to seeing an increase in number of specialist teachers citing government’s sponsorship of Certificate course in Inclusive Education and Diploma in Special Needs Education at Montfort College as well as introduction of Diploma Course in Inclusive Education at Machinga Teacher Training College in 2020.
Speaking earlier, Acting Principal for Montfort Special Needs Education, Soraya Manansala Kalawao said they are geared to provide quality training programs in special needs and inclusive education for the betterment of learners with diverse educational needs, despite some shortfalls.
She thanked government through the ministry of education for fully funding their programs
Prison Fellowship graduates 53 ex-prisoners in various vocational skills
By Mary Makhiringa
Balaka, January 27, Mana: Prison Fellowship in Balaka on Thursday graduated 53 residents with certificates after completing six months vocational training in various programmes at Balaka Half Way House.
Speaking during the graduation, Commissioner for Prisons responsible for Administration and Finance, Clement Kainja said, Malawi Prison Services realizes that Malawi aspires to attain 2063 Agenda through various ways and means such as skills development among others.
Said Kainja: “This is why we are working with Half Way House in reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners who are about to complete their sentence. We are doing this to contribute towards MW 2063 pillars so that all people who are in the prisons should acquire skills to help them earn a living once they are out.”
Kainja added that Malawi Prison Services intends to extend services provided at Balaka Half Way House to all regions so that many residents should benefit from the vocational skills.
“Let well-wishers, whether the Non-Governmental Organizations or people of good will come forward to assist this course as research has shown that most of the residents who go through the programme are doing better once they go back to the communities,” he added.
Member of parliament for Phalombe East, Robert Mwina said it was his first time to be at the Half Way House to see impressive welding work by his young brother.
“As an MP, I will advocate for more resources to be pumped to Malawi Prison Services so that more places like Balaka Half Way House should provide vocational skills to residents,” he said as families of the graduating residents rejoiced after witnessing new life out of newly acquired skills.
President of the graduating residents, Louis Mwape said he has been in prison for five years and described his life from prison to Balaka Half Way House as the journey that the children of Israel travelled to Canaan which was the promised land.
“We were the condemned, we have seen a lot, we served our sentences, prior to our completion, came this opportunity. It has been a very wonderful transition, we have acquired various skills, and now looking forward to going back to the community to start afresh.
“Whilst here, we were being taught Christian life as such programmes have helped to mold our lives again as we now believe that with God we will succeed. The institution has given us start up tools, which will make our start very easy,” he said.
Executive Director for Prison Fellowship Malawi, Rodrick Zalimba asked the graduating residents to utilize the startup tools accordingly other than selling them.
He expressed hope that the tools will help them to get transformed further and become more productive citizens in their respective communities.
City council targets to plant 100, 000 trees in Lilongwe
By Moses Nyirenda
Lilongwe, January 27, Mana: Lilongwe City Council (LCC) says it is targeting to plant about 100, 000 trees in Lilongwe city during this year's tree planting season.
Speaking on the side-lines of tree planting season launch by the city council which was held on Friday at Area 18 interchange, Mayor for Lilongwe city Richard Banda said that they want to plant more trees in order to fight some environmental problems that affect the city of Lilongwe.
“Some two years a go there were some floods in the city in areas like Chipasula and Mtandire just because we do not have enough trees along the river banks.
To avoid that, we want to plant trees mainly in the buffer zones, open spaces or even the recreational parks,” Banada said.
He therefore urged Lilongwe city residents to join the city council in planting and taking care of the trees in order to achieve its mission.
“Once the council comes to plant trees in the city, the residents do not help in taking care of the trees, some uproot the trees that have been planted in our city and even in our river banks that is why most river banks do not have enough trees.
For this reason, we would like to urge the residents that they need to support the city council in planting and taking care of the trees that have been planted in our city,” he said.
Lilongwe City Centre Member of Parliament, Alfred Jiya commended LCC for its commitment to plant more trees in Lilongwe city.
He encouraged the Lilongwe city residents to help in taking care of the newly planted trees in order to fully grow.
During the launch of the tree planting season, LCC and its partners namely; Malawi Environmental Protection Authority (MEPA), Department of Forestry, Global Landscape Forum (GLF)-Malawi Chapter and Green Girls Platform among others planted about 10, 000 trees at Area 18 interchange.
Specialist teacher's training to achieve inclusive education
By Levison Lester
Lilongwe, January 27, MANA: Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the Ministry of Education, Mphatso Nkuonera has said the sign language training which is being conducted in the country will help to minimize communication gap which exists between deaf learners and their teachers during teaching and learning process in schools.
Speaking at Mchinji Teachers Training College (TTC) on Friday while appreciating the progress of the training, Nkuonera said teachers should utilize the knowledge and skills acquired in order to achieve inclusive education among learners in the country.
"The sign language training which has been organized by the ministry with support from UNICEF is targeting 500 specialist teachers in selected districts like Mchinji, Lilongwe, Kasungu, Salima, Dowa, Dedza, Machinga, Mangochi, Chikwawa, Nsanje and Chiradzulu.
After this training, as a ministry, we are hoping that these specialist teachers will fully support learners with deafness in order not to leave anyone behind. This will further help learners with deafness to excel in their studies. Once learners are equipped with necessary skills, the country will be able to achieve inclusive education," he said.
Nkuonera further said sign language training is important in achieving Malawi Agenda 2063 saying the knowledge that learners will acquire in various schools will help to address the communication barrier thereby fostering national development.
In her remarks, one of the instructors at the training, Edna Chigwenembe from Soche Hill Secondary School said the training will help specialist teachers to interact with learners with deafness easily,
She however urged teachers to form Sign Language Clubs in their respective schools where they will be teaching various signs.
Chigwenembe said, "This training will help teachers to perform well because they will be able to interact with learners who have different impairments especially those with deafness easily. We have also asked teachers to incorporate all learners by forming clubs where they will be teaching sign language to every learner."
Speaking on behalf of specialist teachers, Gift Kaunda from Nkhwazi Primary School said the training has equiped them to sign letters, numerals and words easier, and this will help learners with deafness to do better in their studies.
Newly installed incinerator in Zomba to start operating soon
By Roselyn Phiri
Lilongwe, January 26, Mana: Ministry of Health, with support from the Global Fund, has installed an incinerator at Zomba Central Hospital designed for high volume waste management at the facility as well as other health facilities surrounding the district.
Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, and officials from the Global Fund visited the site earlier this week to appreciate the installation progress.
After touring the works for the housing of the incinerator machine, the Minister was satisfied with the progress which has been made so far.
“I am very satisfied with this incinerator housing. As you are aware that when managing a hospital, you get infectious waste in different forms and as such waste management is a very important part of hospital management.
"That is why we have to be strict on how we manage each and every waste which comes from the hospital from our patients and medical supplies which we use. At Zomba Central Hospital, waste management was really problematic and I am sure that once this machine starts operating it will make a change.
“We had to ask for the support from the Global fund and they supported us. This is why we are here inspecting. The installation of incinerator is almost finished," said Chiponda.
She said by using the machine, it will protect the surroundings and even the environment.
Zomba Central Hospital Director, Dr Saulos Nyirenda, thanked Government of Malawi and the Global Fund for the initiative.
Nyirenda explained that the incinerator will be beneficial to more than 15 health facilities surrounding Zomba Central Hospital saying the current way of managing the waste at the hospital is not optical.
“The main problem that we have now is that we use the traditional way of burning waste but waste from the hospital includes metals, and heavy duty plastics so we use diesel or petrol to burn these things and it does not generate enough heat to completely burn the materials. It is risky for both our workers and the community.
"With this machine, we will be able to completely burn waste into ashes. As such, we will create a safe place for our people and the environment,” he said.
Programme Manager for Global Fund, Doreen Sanje, said they have been supporting Government of Malawi since 2003 and will continue to do so.
“We are still committed to supporting Malawi and what is important is to ensure that the resources given should be used satisfactorily,” she said.
Baka City FC hunt for sponsorship in preparation for the 2024 TNM Super League
By Phillip Nyangali Phiri
Mzuzu, January 26, Mana: Newly promoted football team into TNM Super League, Baka City Football Club, is on the hunt for sponsorship deals in their quest to prepare for the 2024 TNM Super League season.
Speaking Friday in an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA), Team Manager for the Karonga based outfit, Alick Zungu, said the team has embarked on preparations for their first ever tour in the Malawi’s elite football tournament without having an official sponsor yet.
“As of now, administrative preparations are going on well and we are expected to resume trainings on Monday, 30th January. However, Baka City does not have an official sponsor and we are calling for support from well-wishers and other potential partners to come forward to support the team in various aspects,” Zungu said.
Zungu added that the 2023 Northern Region Football Associaciation (NRFA) Simso-Innobuild champions are in talks with players, whom he did not disclose, from other teams to join them in a quest to boost the team’s squad.
“So far we haven’t signed new players but we are discussing with other players to join us before the season starts. We are confident that they will join us. We can’t mention the names of the players because we have not finalized everything as far as player transfers are concerned but we will announce the names when all is set,” explained Zungu.
Salomy Banda a Baka City fan, is hopeful that the team will survive the 2024/2025 TNM Super League campaign despite not having an official sponsor and has urged fellow football lovers to continue supporting their team.
“I understand that having a sponsor boosts players’ confidence but I have no reservations that Baka City will do better and hopefully finish in Top 5. I would also like to call for support from my fellow supporters as we play an important role for our team’s performance,” Banda said.
Baka City secured a place in the TNM Super League after emerging champions of the 2023 NRFA Simso-Innobuild with 31 points and 14 goals from 14 games.
Embangweni FC and Iponga FC had 25 points each but were separated by a single goal margin for them to finish on position 2 and 3 respectively.
College construction substandard work irks minister
By Robert Nayeja
Nsanje, January 26, Mana: Minister of Labour, Agnes NyaLonje, has expressed disappointment with substandard construction works of Mtowe Community Technical College in Nsanje District.
NyaLonje said it is worrisome that the technical college failed to be finalized unlike other colleges in Machinga and Chiradzulu districts after being allocated equal budgets.
“It is surprising that other colleges in the same category were finalized and are of good quality using the same allocated resources and remaining with few final touches but Mtowe Technical College has a long way to be completed.
“Further, it is of poor quality such that some structures have already developed cracks,” she said after touring the project on Friday.
She said her ministry will investigate matters surrounding the project.
NyaLonje was surprised that the contractor went with a certificate of completion and a lot of money was paid yet constriction hasn’t been finalized.
“We have so many questions; what happened? Where is the money for the project? Who allowed this to happen? Those questions have to be answered,” said NyaLonje.
She has warned that government will not tolerate any negative issue in government projects.
She, therefore, called upon the people of Nsanje to actively participate in project implementation as one way of ensuring quality in projects.
The Minister has promised the people of Nsanje that government will make sure that the project is completed so that the youth in the district should benefit as others are doing.
“The whole idea of this project is to create space for the youth to learn various technical and vocational skills. So, we will make sure that this project should be completed,” she added.
Nsanje District Council Chairperson, Mike Kafalachi, said for a long time the district has been a victim of substandard construction works and there is need for government to task contractors who offer substandard work.
Kafalachi revealed that Nsanje District Council was not involved in any way regarding construction of the college.
Construction of the technical college started in 2019.
Fomo FC has secured a place in the Thumbs Up Southern Region Football
By Petro Mkandawire
Blantyre, January 24, Mana: FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Reserve suffered a 2-0 goal aggregate defeat in the hands of Mulanje based team Fomo FC after their second leg games ended goalless on Wednesday at Kamuzu Stadium.
Taking a home advantage Fomo FC won their first leg semi- finals 2-0 which has helped them securing a final place in the Thumbs Up Southern Region Football Association (SRFA) League Premier Division.
In post-match interviews, Mapopa Kent Msukwa, Fomo head coach applauded his boys for making up to finals saying he witnessed a good performance and it was their dream to defeat the defending champions.
"Our aim dwelled much on attacking, having energy to win, we came as underdogs because we knew that Bullets is a big team and we have been in the game for two years its good the boys made it to the finals," said Msukwa.
He added that Fomo has no time to relax considering that Ntopwa FC side has been in the game for so long and further explained that the team will ensure to have a very good game plan that will cause problems to Ntopwa FC.
“All in all, I can say Ntopwa should expect struggle,” Msukwa added.
Head coach for FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Reserve, Enos Chatama expressed concern over the loss but was quick to say everything can happen in the game of football and that the loss has taught them a big lesson which will help them to work this coming season.
"We found chances but we didn't use them, our boys seem to be frustrated with the previous game but we have to agree that’s how football works. we will correct all mistakes so that we do better in the next season," added Chatama.
Fomo will now engage Ntopwa FC in ultimate battle for glory and TNM Super League promotion during the final scheduled for February 4 at Kamuzu Stadium.
NPC engages media in accelerating MW2063
By Rosalia Kapiri
Lilongwe, January 26, Mana: National Planning Commission (NPC) Director General Dr Thomas Munthali has called on the media in the country to hold duty bearers accountable and report on crucial matters affecting the country in order to accelerate efforts towards achieving the Malawi 2063 (MW2063).
Munthali was speaking at Eden Estates and Resorts in Lilongwe on Friday during a media seminar on the MW2063 and the first 10-year implementation plan (MIP-1) implementation, coordination and tracking of progress.
Munthali said the media is a key gate keeper on national issues and as such journalists need to follow up on issues in all sectors without relenting until action is taken.
“We felt that media should be kept abreast on how we are performing in as far as implementation of the vision is concerned. Media has a role to make sure that we accelerate action’s efforts.
“Time is fast ticking and we need to hold each other accountable. We have to make sure that we report more on the positives that are accelerating growth of the economy so that those who are doing it should be encouraged to do more and the media is best placed to do this,” explained Munthali.
He added that media should desist from sensational reporting saying it cannot grow the economy and that investors need to read more on the country’s economy saying that is what will attract more investors.
In its implementation, Munthali said NPC is working towards MW2063 goals although they are not yet there but the focus is pushing on the three enablers of the blueprint which are mindset change, effective governance systems and institutions and enhancing public sector performance.
In her presentation, NPC Development Planning Director Dr Grace Kumchulesi said the aim is that by 2063 Malawi should have a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$4,045 per capita by taking development to where the people are.
Chief of Party of Banyan Global (consultants under United States Development Agency), Dr Francis Okello said USAID’s passion was putting in resources to enhance NPC’s capacity particularly in the areas of measuring results and ensuring that the results are used to enhance development effectiveness.
USAID is a partner in the implementation of MW2063.
“Media should increase awareness of the implementation of the vision. If we only concentrate on reporting fully on what is working well then were are missing the point but we need to balance up and also report on what is not working well. In so doing, we will be able to push for the betterment of that particular sector that is not working well thereby pushing for success,” said Okello.
The MW2063 lies on three pillars of agriculture productivity and commercialization, industrialization and urbanization.
Ministry impressed with community participation in health initiatives issues
By Rose Cross Mahorya
Mzuzu, January 25, Mana: Ministry of Health has applauded people in the area of Traditional Authority Kampingo Sibande in Mzimba District for their commitment in up taking immunization against diseases and other related health services.
Speaking Thursday at Chikhwengwe Health Post, Deputy Minister of Health, Halima Daudi said that construction of house for a health surveillance assistant (HAS) and an under- five clinics through Chikhwengwe Mother Group was evident enough to demonstrate the community members value health services.
“I am impressed with the community’s level of commitment in ensuring that there is easy access to health services here.
I have taken note of all the challenges which have been listed including absence of potable water at the facility and I assure that we will assist accordingly,” said Daudi.
Chairperson for Chikhwengwe mother group Melifa Phiri said women used to cover long distances to and from the nearest health centre which is a 30 to 45 minutes’ walk and that, that led to an increase in immunization defaulters.
“When we saw the need for a health facility and a house for an HAS, we approached our traditional leaders for the support in coming up with the structures and lucky enough, they welcomed the idea, together we worked on the two projects.
Ever since we started working with the Ministry of Health and Malawi Health Equity Network in monitoring adherence to health seeking behavior, we have noted increased uptake of immunizations,” Phiri said.
Director of Health and Social Services for Mzimba North District, Dr. Naomi Mulwafu added that since establishment of Mother Groups in 2019, there has been increased adherence to immunization with current uptake rate being at about 91 percent.
The health post has a refrigerator for vaccines storage which Chikhwengwe Mother Group advocated for.
