Independent Schools Association faults Malawi leader Chakwera for extending school closure

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—The Independent Schools Association of Malawi (ISAMA) has described as unjustifiable the government’s decision to extend with a further 2 weeks the Covid-19 induced school break.

Initially, government had set February 8 as the date schools would re-open after a 3 week recess to assess the Covid-19 situation.

But on Thursday evening Khumbize Chiponda Kandodo Minister of Health said after assessing the situation government had decided to extend the break with a further 2 weeks.

Reacting to the development, Joseph Patel President for ISAMA said the 2 week extension is unjustifiable as almost 100 percent of learners who tested Positive for Covid-19 have fully recovered.

According to Patel, sending learners back home would only result in learners indulging in immoral behaviors like it was the case when schools first closed early last year.

On 18^th January, President Lazarus Chakwera directed the Ministry of Education to close all schools for three weeks after noticing resurgence in Covid-19 cases.

Maneno Chimulala

I am a journalist, educator, and activist with passion for telling stories about social justice, sports and political issues. I graduated from Mzuzu University. I started my career at the Maravi Post online publication in 2012 as an intern while in college. Upon graduating from Mzuzu University I was offered a job as Sports Reporter because of my background as a goalkeeper and rose to the position of sub editor. I also had a short stint with Nyasatimes, Malawi Punch and Malawi Digest. Over the past seven years, I have worked intimately with rural organizations and communities in Malawi on human rights, girl child education and grassroots development projects. With an academic background in education, I also volunteer as male champion for girls’ education under Girls Empowerment Networks (GENET) in Malawi’s South West Education Division (SWED).