Blantyre, Malawi voice, 10, January: One of the country’s leading private secondary school Maranatha Academy has temporarily suspended makeshift classes for form 4 in Balaka and Zalewa respectively.

This follows the ministry of education warning to close down schools from the two places.

Last week Ministry of education banned the opening of primary and secondary schools in Blantyre and Lilongwe due to Cholera outbreak.

The development did not go down well with most schools in the two cities, who complained that this will be a disadvantage to their form 4 students, who are expected to seat for Maneb exams this year.

One of the learning institutions in the country, Maranatha Academy after being asked by parents opened temporary campuses in Balaka for girls and Zalewa for boys to enable only the two classes to keep on learning.

Following the development by Maranatha Academy on Monday the Ministry of Education through a press release described the move as unlawful and the school risk closure.

Reacting to the press release, Executive director for Maranatha Academy Ernest Kaonga described the whole situation as unfair to their students, who are expected to write their expected to seat for Maneb exams.

“We did this as plan B not that we have relocated to Balaka or Zalewa. This was just temporary otherwise our campus remains in Blantyre. We only did what because parents begged us to find plan b because the students cannot stay idle while their colleagues from other districts are learning,” said Dr Ernest Kaonga

Kaonga said, as Maranatha they respect the laws of this land and abide by it. He said that is why they have suspended classes but plead with the ministry to find other alternatives for schools in Lilongwe and Blantyre.

“All what we want is to promote education in this country. These students are not for Mr Kaonga but citizens of Malawi and they have a right to education,” he said 

Kaonga also disputed that they advertised on social media on their move to Zalewa and Balaka, as stipulated in ministry of education press release.

Civil Society Education Coalition-CSEC Executive Director Benedicto Kondowe said that the government’s indecisiveness has created all this unnecessary panic.

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