Ministry of Education to procure 350 000 desks

Malawi Ministry of Education, Science and Technology plans to procure 350 000 desks for distribution to various primary and secondary schools to alleviate the shortage experienced at the start of the new school year in September.

Minister of Education, Science and Techology Lucious Kanyumba disclosed this in Parliament on Friday in response to a request from Lilongwe City West MP Edwin Bhagwanji to provide learning materials and desks to some primary schools in his Constituency.

Kanyumba told Parliament that nearly all schools in the country would have a share of the 350 000 desks whose procurement has been included in the 2013/14 budget.

In this financial year, the Ministry of Education is also expected to procure 1.4 million textbooks to be distributed throughout the country, Kanyumba said.

“Primary schools will be provided with K50 000 (about $125) periodically to purchase learning materials depending on schools needs,” he said.