Project promotes primary education in Kasungu
Ministry of Education director of education, youth and sports Joseph Chioza has commended Sonder Project for promoting primary school education in Kasungu District through distribution of textbooks.
He said this on Saturday when the non-governmental organisation(NGO) donated 1000 textbooks worth K6.5 million to Matundu and Kasikidzi primary schools. The textbooks will be distributed to Standard Five, Six and Seven learners.
Chioza said there is a shortage of textbooks in many primary schools in the district.
He said: “Textbooks will cover the gap as there is a shortage of textbooks. Our wish as the Ministry of Education is that every learner should have a book.
“Due to shortage of books, you will notice that one book is used by two, three or four learners; hence, the learners do not have enough time to use the books.”
Chioza asked other NGOs in the country to emulate the example set by Sonder Project in Kasungu District.
Sonder Project chief executive officer Chad Zibelman said they started distributing the textbooks after learning about the impact the textbooks would make in the district.
He said: “We have been partnering primary schools in Kasungu for a number of years and it came to our attention a year ago when we visited some primary schools where we asked teachers to share with us the support they needed for their schools.
“The teachers mentioned textbooks as one of the important resources that would improve performance among learners.”
Sonder Project also supports secondary school students with school fees, mentorship and life skills training under a project dubbed ‘Education is power’.
With its partner Build On, the NGO is also constructing school blocks in the district.