President Lazarus Chakwera, the leader of Malawi, on Monday formally delivered 66 newly constructed secondary schools to the citizens of Malawi, a manifestation of the collaborative efforts between Malawi and the United States of America.
Chakwera thanked the Malawi-US partnership that has produced “…66 brand new Secondary Schools to serve communities and students across 20 districts is no ordinary partnership.”
“A partnership that involves the American people investing 90 million dollars in building the capacity of the Malawian people is no ordinary partnership. A partnership that expands access to secondary education for tens of thousands of our youth is no ordinary partnership. A partnership that moves Malawi closer to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal Number 4, namely ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education, is no ordinary partnership,” said Chakwera.
He added:
“I am therefore delighted to express my thanks to the US Government, represented here by Ms. Amy Diaz of the US Embassy and other US Officials from key US Agencies like USAID, for the relentless effort you have made to support our efforts to empower Malawi’s youth through education.”
Chakwera added that the communities in which these secondary schools have been built must take care of these facilities.
“In view of these joint efforts by the Malawi and US Governments, I want to appeal to the communities in which we are building and opening these schools to take ownership of the schools by taking care of the facilities. The role of communities is especially critical to preserve the progress we are making with the expansion of schools,” he said.
To this effect, Chakwera has disclosed that his government will recruit 13,000 more teachers thereby creating new jobs.
“But every person here knows that a good education is about more than good facilities. It is about good teaching. This is why my Administration has invested heavily in expanding the teacher base by increasing the teaching staff by 50%, adding 13,000 teachers to the staff roll.”
Concluding his remarks, Chakwera reiterated his gratitude to the United States Government for giving Malawian children “a good start, and it is now our responsibility to make sure they have a strong race and good finish. So to our American friends, I say God bless you for the 66 schools you have handed over today, and we look forward to working with you in completing the rest.”
