Mganja Primary School is already 100 years old and comprises grades 1 to 8. The school currently has 1,102 pupils and consists of 9 classrooms spread over 3 buildings. Due to the high number of pupils, 17 classrooms would be required. Of the existing classrooms, 7 are in urgent need of renovation and 2 need to be demolished. Some of the lower classes have more than 200 children in one class, who are currently crammed into one classroom. The lack of sufficient classrooms at Mganja Primary School is having a negative impact on the provision of quality education. Learning is very difficult for the pupils, resulting in high dropout rates, low success rates, rising illiteracy rates, crime rates, unemployment and early marriages. The poor work situation is also a major source of demotivation for teachers.
During the rainy season, lessons are usually completely canceled due to the disastrous condition of the buildings.
The entire project concerns:
- Construction of 10 new classrooms (5 blocks with 2 classrooms each)
- Renovation of 7 classrooms
- Demolition of 2 classrooms
- Construction of 3 blocks with pit latrines
The costs for the entire project amount to 326,210 euros. The Nazareth Foundation Malawi in the Netherlands has reached an agreement with the Dutch donor organization Wilde Ganzen Foundation (https://www.wildeganzen.nl/) for the elementary school project: Wilde Ganzen will add 50% of the funding provided by the Nazareth Foundation. Initial funds have already been provided by the Marietta & Cäcilie Foundation Hamburg – Malawi. Construction is due to start in November 2023.
