By Chisomo Phiri
One of the Education Activists in the country Steve Sharra has said that the Ministry of Education ( MoE) should be commended for its plans to establish a National Education Radio station that will enable learning to continue via its education programs during the time of emergencies where schools are forced to close.
Shara said for a long time, the Ministry of Education has been relying on Public broadcaster, Malawi Broadcasting Station ( MBC) for its education which carries a lot of other programs making it difficult to provide exclusive education content.
He said having its own radio station, the Ministry will now be able to provide content that is exclusive and carter various levels of education.
” The education Ministry should be commended for its plans to establish a National Education Radio for it will help provide content that is exclusive and the one that can carter to various levels of education. It is a good way of ensuring the continuity of education when schools have been closed for whatever reason”, Said Sharra
Sharra added that the Ministry needs to make sure that this radio station covers the entire country, which requires the massive investments in the equipment.
” Not all households have radios, although most mobile phones have radios. But not all households have mobile phones either. It will be important to think about how to reach everyone who needs to access the radio”, he added.
When making a review of the International Literacy Day in Lilongwe on Friday, Minister of Education Agness Njalonje announced that the Ministry is planning to soon establish a National Education Radio Station that will expand access to education and also enable learning to continue during emergencies such as that of COVID-19 pandemic that keep children away from school when the schools are closed.