Mkushi residents demand special education school

PEOPLE living with disabilities in Mkushi have called on government to set up a special education secondary school in Central Province.

Mkushi District Disabled Association chairperson Earnest Mushalila made the call in an interview with the Daily Nation.

Mr. Mushalila said government should consider establishing a secondary school in the province to specifically cater for people living with different disabilities to access education.

He said the district already had a primary school catering for children with disabilities but now needed a secondary school.

Mr. Mushalila said the current situation has seen majority of people living with disabilities re- maining uneducated due to lack of a special education secondary school in the province to enable pupils to continue with their education.

He said the only school for people living with disabilities was the one in Kabwe which was specifically for the deaf apart from other disabilities.

“People living with disabilities also need education like able bodied people. Disability is not inability. It is for this reason we are appealing to government to listen to our plight.” Mr. Mushalila said.

Mr. Mushalila added that education was a right and people living with disabilities had a right to education without discrimination of any kind.

He noted that setting up a secondary school for special education in Central province, will go a long way in changing lives of people living with disabilities. Hence, the need for government to look into the matter with meticulous attention.

Mr. Mushalila called on people living with disabilities in the area to work together for their common good in society.

Meanwhile, Mkushi District Commissioner (DC) Luka Mwamba has donated building materials to Milombwe Primary School for construction of VIP toilets at the learning institution.

Speaking in interview with the Daily Nation, Mr. Mwamba said he was touched to hear that the School which had over 600 pupils was lacking enough sanitary facilities hence the need for him to contribute five packets of cement towards erection of five VIP toilets.

Mr. Mwamba said currently the school had only two toilets in use and was not adequate to cater for the school population and risked an outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases.

“I am contributing five packets of cement to Milombwe Primary School towards construction of five VIP toilets as my social responsibility to the community. I will again contribute five more packets of cement upon completing another set of two.” Mr. Mwamba said.

The DC further thanked the school management and the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) for the initiative as well as hard towards the VIP toilets project.

He said people entrusted with authority should not always wait for government funding due to its many responsibilities and it might take long before funds could be released and so the need for such initiative.

Mr. Mwamba also praised the local community for contributing 25 percent of the material upfront towards the project.

Milombwe Primary School Parents Teachers Association (PTA) chairperson Golden Musonko, who received the donation, hailed the DC for the gesture.

“As the School PTA we are really grateful to the DC Mr. Mwamba for donating five packets of cement. The DC has demonstrated leadership.” Mr. Musonko said.

Mr. Musonko who is Upper Lunsemfwa Ward Development Committee (WDC) chairman said the donation will go an extra mile in improving sanitary conditions at the School

Mr. Musonko appealed to well-wishers to come on board and help the learning institution materially and financially.