UNESCO Strives to End Violence in Schools.

The Malawi National Commission for UNESCO has hinted that teachers can play a big role in promoting peace and sanity in schools and combat violent acts.

This follows a recent training of teachers from selected schools across the country under the Associated Schools Network-ASPnet.

According to Malawi National Commission for UNESCO’s Acting Deputy Executive Secretary David Mulera, his organisation which promotes peace and co-existence believes teachers can use their platforms to combat the malpractice.

“We have gathered these teachers to train them on promotion of peace through various activities they can be carrying out at school level and in their surrounding communities,” Mulera explained.

He indicated that teachers should help advance mindset change in students in their schools, saying this is the best step towards addressing the evils in society.

Director for Quality Assurance and Standards in the Ministry of Education Golden Msilimba shares the same view saying teachers can be change agents.

“This is a great initiative, looking at cases of violence in schools, bullying and teasing, sexual abuse and we have had cases of school structures being destroyed by learners so I think this will bring about change in our schools, the attitude will change,” Msilimba said.

Malawi National Commission for UNESCO is implementing this initiative with Associated Schools network (ASPnet) aimed at strengthening the capacity of the network in Malawi to combat violence, discrimination, and hate speech in schools.

This year, the country has experienced a series of violence in some schools due to misunderstandings between students and the school management, leading to destruction of valuable property.