Barely a week after students at Zomba High School rioted over bad and insufficient food, students at Assalam Boys Private Secondary School in Mangochi on Sunday damaged school’s property over the same problem.
School’s Secretary Limbikani Banda confirmed the development in an interview with Malawi Muslims Official Website on Monday.
“It is true that the students went on strike claiming that the Cook gave them insufficient food. They complained to the boarding master who then told them to get some more but after they got the food, they changed the tune claiming that the food was bad. It is when they started protesting and vandalising school’s properties,” said Banda.
According to Banda, the students smashed administration office’s windows and torched various books.
The incident has since disrupted end of term examinations that were expected to start today.
“The situation here is pathetic. We don’t know what we should do now because the students were supposed to start exams today,” worried one official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the official says the discussions are underway with the management to decide whether it should be closed indefinitely or not.
Assalam Boys Private Secondary School is an education project by Al-Barakah Charity Trust (ACT) which is situated 10 km away from Mangochi town at Changamire Village. It is housed in Assalaam Complex.
Last month, the same incident happened at Mama Khadija Girls Private Academy in Namwera which also belong to ACT. Students at the school which has won acclaim and recognition from the government as a milestone in the provision of education especially to girls, went on strike claiming the school served them with ‘rotten vegetables’ – leading to the indefinite closure of the school but it was later re-opened on March 4.
Give them good food thats all what they are asking. I wonder how difficult dat one z. The food z already there. We've been there 2. Maka ma cook amakhala a careless dats wt i thnk.
May be the problem iz those are responsible in catering akumaba half ya zinthu half inayo kuphika.
Much as each Islamic School has its own of managing things, I think this is the time for all the Muslim schools with parents to converge and find ways of solving out these problems and how to prevent them from re-occurring.The Association for Muslim Schools which w hear is established should assist in this.
It looks that due failure by the management to appreciate the cause of the strikes and the barbaric actions the students take over small issues and sometimes matters that do not concern,right solutions may be attached to wrong problems.
The other element is that all this will lead to schools charging higher fees for them to really meet the hotel standards which the students seem to demand.In addition the schools may take tough measures on the students because the students seem just to be emulating what another islamic school students have done.They are using marxism where may be they want the schools to be managed by them.
May be something not founded on Islamic beliefs is behind as to how Islamic Institutions are being managed by those entrusted to manage them. I don't think it is a question of resources. We have abundant sponsorship for all these instutuions. I am sure that the Muslim World beyond Malawi has done everyhting to make Malawian Muslims a competetive human being in every aspect of life here in Malawi. But somehow certain section of the Muslim Community in Malawi feels that spending on our children to a certain degree for their humane development is an acceptable. That section of the Muslim Communtiy belives that God is happy when he sees a human being in hardships before he or she attains a goal. Unfortunately, the bulk of Mnagers of the Islamic Institutions are in this section. But the worrisome part of this trend of things is that the resources are then diverted for personal enrichment for those managers. It is indeed horrible. But here we are Muslims, lagging in every aspect of life in Malawi because of how our affairs are managed in crucial institutions like Assalam Boys Seconadry School. It is high time we changed our attitudes.
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