As one way of improving access to education in the country, President Dr Lazarus Chakwera on Friday committed to construct more schools in Salima district.
Speaking at Mlamba in the area of Senior Chief Kambwiri, in Salima, Chakwera said the importance of access to education should not be taken for granted, hence his commitment to construct more schools in Salima district.
“So far we have constructed three schools in the area of Senior Chief Kambwiri, and we are commiting ourselves to add more to the number, our aim is to have more children attaining quality education,” he said.
He said girls should be discouraged to get married at an early age but called upon parents to encourage girls to work hard and not drop out of school.
Chakwera said increasing the Constituency Development Fund to K200 Million was aimed at upscaling development such as school construction and other life changing developments.
“We are taking a holistic approach to education, we have managed to abolish quota system, so that there is no regionalism in the selection of successful candidates in public universities, we have also increased the allowances of college students,” he said.
He added: “Number of students on government loans has been increased, we want students to access quality education in our colleges.”
Member of Parliament for Salima South West constituency Mike Mwawa said in the past, pupils in his area walked long distances to access education, this is unlike now, when government has managed to construct three Community Day Secondary schools.
Mwawa said it is pleasing to note that the number of students enrolling for education has increased because education is easily accessible.