Poor sanitation fuelling girls’ dropouts

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

   Structures like these can't inspire pupils

Lack of hygiene and sanitation in many government schools are fuelling dropouts among girls, Deputy Minister of Information and Civic Education Kingsley Namakhwa said on Friday.

Namakhwa was speaking at Nachipele Fulll Primary School in the area of T/A Nchilamwela in Thyolo District when he inaugurated 12 pit latrines which a youth organization, Thyolo Active Youth Organization (Tayo), constructed with funding from a US-based Watering Malawi.

Nachipele School has more than 2,400 pupils, but every year the institution experiences dropouts, especially among girls due to lack of toilets.

In his remarks, Namakhwa stated that government was equally concerned with the problems many schools are going through in terms of hygiene and sanitation.

“Sanitation at any learning institution is very important. That’s why I’m commending Tayo for the 12 pit latrines they’ve built. These will go a long way in reducing the challenges that pupils had, especially girls who usually are the most affected where there’s poor sanitation at school,” said Namakhwa.

Tayo executive director Willard Mwambo said his organization saw the need to construct the latrines after the school experienced a disaster during the 2009 rainy season that resulted into the entire girls’ latrines collapsing.

Mwambo thanked Watering Malawi (USA) for making funds available for the project and promised to continue mobilizing resources for such causes in future.

“But we’re also grateful to the school committee and teachers for the good working relationship during the construction of the latrines,” he said.

Pupils at the school appealed to Namakhwa to also play a role in addressing hygiene and sanitation discrepancies in the area. Apparently, Namakhwa is legislator for the area.

“It’s your responsibility as well to construct toilets. We expect you to follow suit,” said the pupils in their song.

END