First Lady hands over hostel to communities

First Lady Monica Chakwera has appealed to well-wishers to support the education sector by constructing girls’ hostels in schools.

She said this on Monday when Shaping Our Future Foundation handed over a K95 million hostel to Katowo Community Day Secondary School in Senior Chief Katumbi in Rumphi District.

The First Lady said girls are facing many challenges as they strive to attain education, as such, there is need to come up with initiatives to address the challenges.

“I, therefore, appeal to all stakeholders at different levels to ensure that girls remain in school so that they grow into productive citizens,” she said.

Deputy Minister of Education Monica Chang’anamuno said students in the area travel up to 20 kilometres to the school and are subjected to bullying and sexual abuse on their way.

She said: “The 80-bed hostel will motivate learners to focus on their studies and achieve their aspirations.

“It is very unfair to continue subjecting girls to such harsh conditions which have for a long time contributed to dropout.”

Chang’anamuno said 926 learners dropped out of school in the 2021/22 academic year due to different challenges and out of this figure, 500 were girls.

“So, we are optimistic that the hostel will keep more girls in school,” she said.

Japanese Ambassador Ywak Lwakiri, whose government funded the hostel project, said education was important for rural communities.

“That is why my government supported the initiative to construct the hostel,” he said.

The school serves students from traditional authorities Chikulamayembe, Zolokere and Katumbi.