Malawi Communications and Regulatory Authority (MACRA) board members have expressed satisfaction with the progress of the construction works for school technology laboratories in the country.
Speaking Thursday at Matandwe Community Day Secondary School in Zomba, where board members inspected the construction of a lab, Marra Kawale, one of the board members, said that in all the 75 schools where Macra is constructing the technology laboratories, there is impressive progress.
Kawale said that through the Universal Service Fund Project under MACRA, several schools will be connected to the internet where students will be able to access free internet for their education.
“If you may also remember, digitisation is one of our pillars in the Malawi vision 2063, as such, we want to digitise our systems and the way we do things,” Kawale said.
Kawale added that the lab would also enhance students’ understanding of computers and their efficiency.
Khumbo Kasambara, Macra’s Project Manager, said the idea to have labs in the country follows a total shutdown of schools in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Kasambara said schools that were connected to the internet were able to proceed with online studies, while those without had to stop classes.
“The COVID-19 lessons were enough lessons for the country to digitalise education systems in rural schools. We expect that with these labs in school, provision of education would be enhanced,” he said.
Head teacher of the school, Lackson Chatha, said the lab would add value to the students’ education.
Once the first phase of the project is completed, MACRA plans to roll out a second phase with more schools benefiting.
By Solister Mogha, MANA
