Mungwi residents demand a day secondary school

———Parents in Mungwi who cannot afford to take their children to boarding schools have complained over the lack of a day secondary school in the area.

The parents submitted their complaint to Mungwi District Commissioner, Joyce Chanda, during a meeting held at Musenga Basic School yesterday.

They said the lack of a day school in the area had adversely affected them as they had no money to take their children to other schools in other districts after being selected to Grade Ten.

The complaints come in the wake of the decision by the District Education Board in Mungwi to suspend Grade Ten classes at Musungu Primary School because of the absence of essential learning facilities such as a science laboratory.

The parents, however, complained that it was not fair for government not to upgrade Musenga to a day school when parents were willing contribute upfront materials for it.

One parent, Paul Chungu, said the education policy should also favour children who had no financial capacity to access quality education. .

Mr Chungu said Kasama district alone had over five day schools for both boys and girls which were just upgraded like Henry Kaputa Day Secondary School.

But Mungwi District Commissioner, Joyce Chanda urged parents not to panic as the district administration had decided to open one class for Grade Ten at Musenga as a temporary measure to try and accommodate their concerns.

Mrs Chanda further revealed that two more classes were opened at Mungwi Technical Secondary School.

She said it was now up to the parents to decide where they could take their children since the three classes were only going to usurp a total of 120 pupils.

The DC, however, said this year alone government had given Mungwi two schools to be constructed at Kanyanta in Paramount Chief Chitimukulu’s area and Nseluka along the Kasama/Mbala road.

And District Education Board Secretary, Alfred Muonga, explained that the government had abolished basic schools and high schools in order to enhance the quality of education.

Mr Muonga said this was the reason his office decided to stop conducting classes for Grades 10,11 and 12 at Musenga because it was a primary school.

There are currently two classes for Grades 11 and 12 pupils at Musenga who are learning under the open-learning arrangement but pupils in the said classes continue to face a wide range of challenges which among them include the absence of the laboratory.

The school has had inadequate teachers to handle higher grades, which has also affected the smooth delivery of quality education.