Mangochi South West legislator Shadric Namalomba (Democratic Progressive Party) has commissioned a girls’ hostel at Chilipa Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) constructed under the performance-based World Bank-funded Governance to Enable Service Delivery project.
The K435.3 million 56-bed capacity hostel is expected to provide accommodation to girls who walked long distances to school.
Speaking during the handover ceremony on Saturday, Namalomba, who is also Minister of Information and Communications Technology, said the hostel will improve girls’ access to secondary education by providing accommodation closer to the school.
“The hostel will benefit learners who previously travelled long distances to attend classes and create a more conducive environment for girls, thereby helping them remain in school and improve their performance,” he said.
Namalomba said it remains his commitment to see people in his constituency have access to essential services, including good roads.
He further pledged to construct a new borehole and a laboratory at the school.
Mangochi District Council chairperson Illiyasa Sauzande thanked Gesd for the construction of the hostel, saying it will improve the performance of girls.
“We will be pleased to see many girls remain in school because there is accommodation now,” he said.
The school’s head teacher Saad Chiphwanya said the hostel will help address the problem of school dropouts among girls, which currently stands at 10 percent.
“Most girls in the area travel long distances to attend classes,” he said.
One of the beneficiaries, Form Four student Shakira Cassim, described the development as a relief, saying it will end the nightmare of travelling long distances to access secondary education.
“The hostel will help me concentrate on my studies because I will no longer spend much time travelling to school,” she said.
The hostel comprises 14 rooms, with four girls accommodated in each room and includes a matron’s house, beds and toilets
