Embassy of Japan in Malawi
在マラウイ日本国大使館

Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects

Grant Contract Signing Ceremony
The Project for the Construction of Classroom Blocks
at Nsanama Primary School in Machinga District

January 19, 2016

On Tuesday, 19th January 2016, His Excellency Shuichiro Nishioka, Ambassador of Japan to Malawi and Mr Enock Nelson Chumachao, Machinga District Education Manager signed a contract which signifies the grant from the Government of Japan to the Republic of Malawi under the Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Project, for the Project for the Construction of Two Classroom Blocks at Nsanama Primary School in Machinga District. The ceremony was held at the Embassy of Japan and was graced by Hon Vincent Ghambi M.P., Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Technology.

Education is essential for human capacity development and the socio-economic development of a nation. Since the introduction of free primary education in Malawi in 1994, the number of children enrolled for primary education has tripled. However, this  development has led to most schools not having adequate facilities for quality education and Nsanama Primary School in Machinga District is one of the many schools in the country facing the challenge. The school has almost 2,800 pupils from grade 1 to grade 8 but it equips only 2 blocks with 8 classrooms. Accordingly, nearly two–thirds of the pupils are forced to have their classes under trees, being disturbed by strong winds, heat and the rains. In addition, most of those in outside classes hardly concentrate in class and are less motivated to attend classes. This, indeed, contributes to the low pass rate of the Primary School Leaving Certificate Exams (PSLCE) of 58 percent in 2015 from the school. Meanwhile, the poor learning environment exacerbates school absenteeism and dropout rate among the pupils. To tackle this challenge, the Government of Japan approved a grant amounting to USD105,100 to Machinga District Education Office. This will facilitate the construction of two classroom Blocks with four rooms each at Nsanama Primary School in order to ensure that children are motivated and can learn in a conductive environment. 

Speaking during the ceremony, Ambassador Nishioka expressed that he believed, after successful project completion, the learning environment of Nsanama Primary School will improve and later reduce school absenteeism and dropout rate among the pupils. In the meantime, he appealed to the Machinga District Education Office to effectively carry out the project and deliver it within the proposed timeframe and encouraged to the staff of the school and the community to work together with Machinga DEM for the success of the project.