New Beginnings: Mnjiri CDSS in Malawi Welcomes Fresh Faces with Hope and Purpose
By Mnjiri Jill Dando News Correspondents
Mnjiri Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) welcomed a new cohort of students from various primary schools following their selection.
On September 26th, Deputy Headteacher Emmanuel Mlagha spoke about the arrival of new Form One students at Mnjiri CDSS. The school has enrolled a total of 226 students, comprising both boys and girls.
The deputy commented:
"Usually when we look at the form ones, they are humble and we not experienced discipline cases. Actually, when they come, they come with good behaviour, so most of the time, they copy from their friends like the form two, three and fours…it is very important to welcome the form ones with counselling as soon as they have signed the rules and regulations and the date has been set for them. It is disappointing that the headteacher is not here with us but it would have been much great if he was here with us."
He explained that they have already put mechanisms in place to bring out the best in their students.
Form One students must understand that they are here for academics. When there is indiscipline at school, and students do whatever they want at any time, they don't pass.
Students spend four years at Mnjiri CDSS, and with dedication from the start, they can excel in both their JCE and MSCE examinations.
The school's motto, "Together We Can," reflects their commitment to achieving excellence, including the possibility of scoring 6 points.
The deputy headteacher lamented,
"As I am talking to you right now our pass rate is below national average so as an administration, we want to do much more than this because Mnjiri has a lot to offer."
He emphasized that teasing and bullying are not allowed, as the Ministry of Education prohibits such acts.
Currently, the administration has not received any complaints about Form One students being teased. The administration has observed that most students are well-behaved and show promise.
In an interview with the Form Ones, they said:
"We are very excited to be selected to secondary school. We are going to participate in all activities at school, we will work hard in class and participate in all subjects. I always dreamt of being selected to secondary school. The feeling of being at a secondary school is great even the environment is very nice, no litter every morning before we enter our respective classes, we sweep the surrounding areas, so it always looks neat"
The interviewed students were Alice Mvula, Tania Anussah, Comfort Chithonje, and Hope Banda.
Key changes made:
- Fixed verb tenses and agreement
- Improved sentence structure and flow
- Corrected preposition usage
- Enhanced clarity in transitions between paragraphs
- Fixed article usage (a/an/the)
- Improved word choice in non-quoted sections
- Made the final attribution of students clearer
