Learners invite MP for sanitation talks
Children understand things that affect them, but are authorities listening?
“We have a say and leaders should hear our cry,” says Rhoda Banda, 11, president of Kaphaizi Primary School Learners Council in Kasungu District.
In 2023, the learners’ representatives summoned Kasungu West Member of Parliament Jailos Bonongwe to discuss how to improve sanitation at the rural school.
The Standard Seven girl recounts: “Sanitation was a major problem. Until last year, there were only eight toilets for over 1 100 learners. During breaks, we used to rush home because the school toilets were mostly occupied, wet and dirty.
“Few students used to return to class. While they were at home, colleagues were learning. Some children started skipping classes and others stopped coming to school.”
The learners teamed up with Kaphaizi Youth Club to amplify the call for toilets after the Development Communication Trust in partnership with the Story Workshop Trust trained them to understand their roles, rights and education guidelines. The standards included the National Education Strategy, which requires one toilet to serve 10 girls or 25 boys.
United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef )supported the consortium of DCT and the Story Workshop to train school committees and community groups under the United Nations Joint Programme for Girls’ Education.
“We met our big brothers and sisters because we couldn’t solve the problem alone. So, we agreed to invite our MP and request him to use the Constituency Fund (CDF) to construct toilets,” says Rhoda.
Parliament was allocating K100 million for community projects in each constituency. The parliamentarians doubled the CDF to K200 million in April this year.
“We elected the MP to represent us and the CDF is our money. He promised to use future allocations to buy cement, iron sheets and other building materials if we played our part,” says youth club chairperson Chikondi Chisasa.
The youth dug pits and parents contributed sand for new latrines.
“We are still waiting for the CDF-funded toilets, but we didn’t sweat in vain. Our groundwork attracted BuildOn to construct two modern toilets with twin rooms,” says the youth club leader.
The learners’ council also works with the youth club to ensure every child goes to school and dropouts re-enrol.
The young people rally the local community to educate and support children.
They also grow soybeans for sale and organise Fridays for casual wear to raise funds for school needs and support needy learners.
In 2023, they bought four sets of sports uniforms—two for the school’s football teams and another two for netballers.
The learners’ council plans to use proceeds of this year’s harvest from their two-acre field to buy uniforms for needy students and gift the girl’s team “a cool kit like the Queens”, Malawi’s national netball team.
“The new uniforms and toilets show the power of working together,” says learners council patron Medrick Nyirenda. “The children identify the problems and youth club members give them a hand to demand answers from relevant authorities and solve them.
The school borrowed the learners’ earnings to buy chalk and paid it back after getting the annual school improvement grant.
The young people are collectively lobbying for more school blocks to save children in Standard One to Three from learning in tree shades and dilapidated prayer houses.
Kaphaizi Primary School Headteacher Ruth Katola says. “I was startled when the children called the MP, but it shows that they have a voice and we need to listen.
“When I came here in 2022, the school had eight dilapidated toilets for about 1 000 learners. Now we have two more because children are claiming their rights and playing a role in tackling challenges that affect them.”
With 644 girls and 598 boys, Kaphaizi is one of the 30 primary schools under the UN’s five-year initiative to improve girls’ education.
