Ministry of Education believes its partnership with the National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) will help the ministry to construct quality and sustainable infrastructure which is safe for learners.
Principal Secretary for Education, Mangani Chilala Katundu, made the remarks in Lilongwe during the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two.
In the MoU, NCIC will drill builders of the ongoing construction of 10, 900 classroom blocks under the Malawi Education Reform Programme (MERP), whose classes will accommodate almost 700,000 learners in Malawi.
“The Ministry of Education has standards of what constitutes a safe and appropriate classroom and NCIC will provide us with the necessary support and it will go beyond this project,” Katundu said.
NCIC Chief Executive Officer, Engineer Gerald Khonje, said their trainings will influence construction timelines to beat deadline.
Khonje added that they will also impart skills, ranging from contract management, and procurement of materials to actual construction, to local artisans to ensure they construct buildings that can stand the test of time.
President Dr Lazarus Chakwera launched MERP project in February this year and it includes construction of 1000 washrooms in primary schools across 34 education districts in the country.
It is funded by the Malawi government, the World Bank and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).
