Minister of Education Science and Technology Honorable Bright Msaka, SC, has warned against inflated school construction costs, saying his ministry will work with Parliament and other stakeholders to ensure public funds are protected and schools do not become “a vehicle for stealing from poor Malawians.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday in Lilongwe, Msaka said his ministry will work with the house and other relevant stakeholders to examine the figures being quoted for school construction projects, saying the costs being reported for some Community Day Secondary Schools are unjustifiable and threaten government’s efforts to expand access to secondary education.
The matter was raised by Nsanje Central Member of Parliament Francis Kasaila , who sought clarification on the cost of constructing Kalanga Community Day Secondary School in Mwanza which was recently opened by the Minister , saying the project appeared to have been completed at a fraction of the cost being quoted for similar schools elsewhere in the country.
The legislator said, judging from the completed structures, the school appeared to have cost about K350 million to construct and people in his constituency wanted government to confirm the actual cost because comparable projects in his area are being budgeted at more than K1 billion despite having similar facilities.
Responding to the concern, Msaka said Kalanga Community Day Secondary School was constructed at a cost of around K250 million,he explained that the figure did not include contractor profits and the value of community labour, but maintained that even after factoring in those costs, the total would still be nowhere near the K1 billion or K4 billion figures being associated with similar projects.
He described the higher construction costs as ridiculous, saying such expenditure would make it impossible for government to build enough secondary schools across the country,he said if one Community Day Secondary School costs over K1 billion, the entire Constituency Development Fund allocation would be consumed by a single project, a situation he said cannot be accepted.
Msaka said the figures must be reviewed, adding that the Ministry of Education will work with Parliament and other stakeholders to ensure public schools are not used as a vehicle for stealing from poor Malawians.
Kalanga Community Day Secondary School was recently commissioned in Mwanza,built with support from the German organisation Green Helmets, the school comprises classrooms, a library, a science laboratory, an administration block and six teachers’ houses.
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