NGOS FUELLING ACTS OF VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS – GOVT

Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Dr William Susuwele Banda, has accused Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOS) of fuelling acts of violence in schools in the country.

Banda made the claim Monday when he officially opened a two day Education Joint Sector Review (JSR) meeting at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.

He said some NGOs working in the area of human rights teach students about  demanding their rights in schools and that is why students protests against school management.

He said NGOS were being provided with access to most school in the country with the view of sensitizing the students on the importance of upholding human rights principles.

“We are now surprised that the NGOs have been emphasizing on demanding their rights from school management and in the end there is no promotion of dialogue between the two which has resulted to acts of vandalism among other things,” Banda added.

The minister did not name any NGO which was largely linked to the current spate of vandalism in secondary schools.

 He, however, said students at Lunzu Secondary School in Blantyre destroyed their school in the name of demanding their rights.

The Minister said his ministry would not hesitate to close down a school where students are involved in acts of vandalism since it is a clear indication that students are not interested in school.

“I would like to strongly condemn the destruction and vandalism happening in our secondary schools. The Ministry will not condone such behavior. I have always said that there are much better ways to address misunderstanding but not destroying property,” he said.

For the past four months, four secondary schools have been involved in acts of vandalism leading to the closure of the schools.

The first was Blantyre Secondary School where students damaged and destroyed school property when they staged in protest against School authority.

Thyolo Secondary school was the second to be involved in the acts before Rumphi Secondary school students damaged school property as well.

Students at Lunzu Secondary School students in Blantyre also recently damaged their school property.