So many broken desks in our primary schools – what’s going on?

Three factors: (1) schools purchase desks that are not durable, (2) schools do not have maintenance agreements with suppliers of desks and chairs and (3) schools do not receive funding for desk/chair maintenance.

UNICEF reports that over 50% of students in primary schools sit on the floor. I visited a few schools in Blantyre City and what I observed paints a darker picture than what has been reported.

Name of school	School population	% of students sitting on the floor
Ndirande	3102	87%
Nyambadwe	1800	22%
Makata	5399	76%
Matope	1970	64%
Chirimba	4800	76%
Mbayani	6685	69%

Possible solutions

Three possible solutions: (1) schools must purchase durable desks and chairs, (2) schools must be innovative in raising the cash required to maintain desks and chairs and (3) I think it’s about time schools started having long-term maintenance agreements with suppliers of desks and chairs.