Snake falls from tree while pupils are learning

By Elias Banda
Hell broke loose when a  snake fell from the tree while pupils were learning at Khwalala Primary School in Mulanje District, causing fear and panic among the learners. Calm and order were restored when the snake was killed though  lessons failed to continue.
Confirming the incident, Group Village Head Khwalala said the snake called Namasamba in local language fell during  a class session but no casualties were reported.
Pupils at the school especially those of lower classes learn on open grounds and under the trees due to shortage of school blocks. School Head Teacher Dickens Hapala said an interview that his school has 20 classes but with only 8 classrooms, forcing 12 classes to learn on open grounds. He said the situation is aggravated during rainy season when it becomes difficult to learn from outside and absenteeisms are considerably high when the ground is wet. Hapala said some pupils were accommodated in the near by church building under desperate circumstances.
Mary Gedion, member of the school committee said children are forced to sit on the dusty ground because the school does not have enough desks, making it difficult for learners to write.
Last year,  the school committee mobilized the community to mold 150, 000 bricks in an attempt to attract government attention but all efforts proved futile after three years elapsed without any response.
ADRA Malawi through the Action for Social Program established the Radio Listeners Club in the area as a platform where the community would discuss issues that affect them. The program would be aired on the public broadcasting station and hopes were higher that they would be assisted through the wider audience.  And during their first radio program, the community recorded the issue on shortage of school blocks and engaged a duty bearer from the Ministry of Gender and Community Development. The community is optimist that after the radio program, school blocks would be built at Khwalala.
The Action for Social Change is supported by Denmark to bring about society and individual change in Mulanje, Machinga, Lilongwe and Mzimba Districts.