CSOs bemoan girls’ hostel project delay
Nsanje District Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Network has bemoaned the delay to complete construction works of a girls’ hostel at NyamadzereCommunity Day Secondary School (CDSS).
Speaking on Tuesday during a meeting with a committee tasked to oversee the project’s progress in Nsanje, the network’s chairperson Mike Dansa said the project stalled 13 years ago.
He said: “Girls walk long distances from Mbangu, Chididi and Lambwe to access education at Nyamadzere CDSS. Walking such long distances exposes girls to sexual abuse.
“Second, girls fail to concentrate in class because of fatigue.”
Dansa said they summoned the committee to give them a progress report on the issue.
He said the committee travelled to the Ministry of Education headquarters
in Lilongwe on March 21 2024 to ask the ministry to complete the project.
“Some materials have been vandalised as the contractor passed away eight years ago. We will meet again on June 18 2024 to discuss how we can mobilise resources for the committee to return to Lilongwe,” said Dansa.
In response, the committee’s chairperson McConnell Kalikokha said the director of secondary
schools promised to come back to them.
One of the parents, Collins Nyakamera said the hostel will improve performance because girls will have more time to study at night.
Nyamadzere CDSS opened in 1967 and has 498 students with 235 girls.
National Initiative for Civic Education Nsanje district civic programmes officer Kondwani Malunga said they funded the meeting to enable CSOs follow up projects in the district
