By Benedicto Maguda

Blantyre, September 25, Mana: The Ministry of Education says it is working closely with Ministry of Health to prevent cholera and Mpox outbreaks in schools as learners enter the third week of the first term of the 2025/2026 school year.

Ministry of Education, spokesperson, Mphatso Nkuonera told Malawi News Agency (MANA) on Tuesday that the ministry received a report of cholera and Mpox outbreaks in some parts of the country.

“We are aware of the outbreak, and we know that all of them spread fast, but they are preventable and curable. As ministry, we want to remind teachers, school administrators, school committees, chiefs, mother groups, religious leaders, and other stakeholders to play a role in preventing any outbreak and that we should work together to protect learners,” he said

Nkuonera said the Ministry of Education will continue working with Ministry of Health and other partners to protect learners from the outbreaks at all costs.

“We are working together with the Ministry of Health. The last time we had COVID-19 in this country, we closed our schools for the whole term because we took advice from the Ministry of Health,

“We shall continue monitoring the situation and will listen to the Ministry of Health. Whatever they advise, we will do according to such advice,” he said

Nkuonera appealed to parents to take precautionary measures in protecting their children against any possible outbreak as the Ministry of Education continues to monitor the situation.

Health expert, Mphatso Ngulube Chikwaza, said there was a need to take all precautional measures, adding that first priority should be adhering to best hygiene practices in our schools

“Stakeholders in schools should make sure that water is available so that learners should use it to clean their hands, furthermore, teachers should teach learners to practice hygiene all the time,” she said, adding that overcrowding of learners in most public schools becomes a challenge in disease prevention and control.

He however said there is a need to teach learners best hygiene practices such as consistent hand washing.

“School administration should make sure that water is available in schools, and this should be a priority so that when we tell learners to wash their hands they should know where they to get water,” she added.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) in 2022/2023 Malawi recorded 53,020 cases and 1,586 deaths.