Classrooms turn into spaces for displaced families, but school goes on at Chumani Primary School
Classes continue, no time to waste
“We have work to cover and we cannot waste any time. The government has not changed the dates for the final exams for Standard 8,”
At Chumani Primary School in the west of Mulanje town, South Malawi, a block of four classrooms stands stripped of its roof, blown away by the raging windstorms that accompanied Tropical Cyclone (TC) Freddy on the weekend of March 12, 2023.
Currently, two blocks are still standing, but one block has been transformed into a camp for displaced families, leaving only one block functional for learners to continue their education.
Following the devastation caused by TC Freddy, the Malawi Government temporarily suspended all classes in the affected areas.
But at Chumani Primary School, the Standard 8 classes continue unabated.
In the Standard 8 classroom, class teacher Sylvester Fyson takes his 31 pupils through a Mathematics lesson, one of the last three chapters he has to conclude before the final exams on May 17, 2023.
“We have work to cover and we cannot waste any time. The government has not changed the dates for the final exams for Standard 8,” Fyson explained. “We have to do what we can with the limited time that we have.”
The teacher explained that he noted that some of his students, especially those that have directly been affected by the cyclone, have shown signs of trauma.
“I noticed that some of the students, especially those that were directly affected, seem to be showing signs of psychological trauma; their concentration in class is low and they do contribute less,” he explained.
“I think that they are reflecting on the events and thinking of the problems back home as some of them lost everything. And even some of them are here in the camp where the situation is really not that good as they sleep on the floor and there is no privacy,” he said.
He, therefore, expressed fear that the pass rate would be lower than they had initially projected.
“But we are hopeful because we are working with the affected students by counselling them and encouraging them because it is only by assuring them that they can regain their confidence,” he said.
The camp currently houses 125 people from the neighbouring communities whose houses were washed away in the floods.
Among the students are 15-year-old Esther Mwiwe and 14-year-old Daliso Dinesi who are both being housed at the camp.
Esther, from Makhaula Village, is one of the brightest students in her class and she witnessed the floods as they swept neighbours and relatives away on March 14, 2023.
She explains that she is finding it difficult to keep pace with her education as the environment in the camp is not conducive to teaching and learning.
“I study during the night but sometimes people in the camp still disturb me so it’s difficult,” she says.
With all her books and possessions washed away, Esther has to start collecting notes from scratch.
“Studying will be a little difficult without the notes that I had collected through the year,” says Esther, who dreams of being a nurse.
On his part, Daliso, who aspires of becoming a teacher, says he has no choice under the circumstances but to work a little harder.
“It’s difficult to concentrate here in the camp when one wants to read. But we have little time left before the final exams, so we have to just put more effort. We will continue studying under the circumstances. It’s not like we have a choice,” he says.
As of Friday 24 March 2023, at least 437 schools had been affected from 15 education districts.
“At least 139,929 learners have been affected, of which 23,066 are adolescents and 1,853 are learners with disabilities and at least 307 teachers have been affected. Also, 242 schools are being used as spaces for internally displaced people,” the Ministry of Education said in a statement.
The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) update on the devastation caused by TC Freddy indicates that the number of displaced people is at 563, 771 with 576 camps set to accommodate the displaced persons across 15 affected councils.
On Friday 24 March 2023, the death toll stood at 511, with 1,333 injuries. The number of reported missing persons was at 533.
