By Mercy Matonga:
A student at Chaminade Marist Secondary School in Lilongwe is battling for his life after a school teacher allegedly severely beat him, inducing life-threatening seizures and raising fears of brain damage.
The teacher, identified as Brother James Rogoncho, is accused of beating the student, 16-year-old Clinchy Msungama, in November 2024.
A video clip of the child following the incident shows the young man, who was allegedly beaten in the head, shaking violently while having seizures.
Police officers questioned Ragoncho last year.
The Ministry of Education has since closed the school.
The family of the student, who is still reportedly in critical but stable condition in hospital, has indicated that it would sue the school, demanding K100 million in compensation, according to documents seen by The Daily Times.
“As a result of the assault and battery, he suffered serious personal injuries, among them blood clotting in the brain, serious nose bleeding, intermittent fainting, deep cut wounds on the face, swollen cheeks, deep cuts on the ears and general body pains,” the family’s lawyer, Stanley Chirwa, has indicated in a demand letter to the school.
In an interview, mother of the child, Chandice Msungama, said she received a phone call from school authorities in November last year, when she was informed that their son was not feeling well and that they had to meet with the school authorities at ABC Clinic in Lilongwe.
“I was phoned at night and when I reached the hospital, my son was not feeling well. I was told that he just fell down, without them getting into the details.
“However, later on, when he was able to speak, he said, prior to his hospitalisation, he was beaten by a teacher at the school over what he described as disciplinary grounds,” Msungama said.
She said Clinchy explained that he was beaten for responding to the teacher through a window when he called out his name.
“The brother asked him why he responded to his call through the window; he asked him to kneel in front of the whole class and then hit him,” Msungama said.
When The Daily Times reached out to the school for a comment, its officials, through secretary Charity Fazili, said the school was yet to convene on the matter.
“The school has not discussed the issue yet and, right now, we cannot comment on the matter,” Fazili said.
According to a medical report authored by Dr Zhang Xiaoli, tests indicate that symmetrical hypodensity is seen around the posterior horns of the bilateral lateral ventriclesa and that 2.5 centimetre (cm)x1.6 cm cystic mass is found in the cisterna magna area, and the adjacent occidental bone is compressed and thinned.
Ministry of Education spokesperson Mphatso Nkuonera said the ministry was aware of the incident.
“The ministry is aware of the issue and we are still working on a response on the matter,” Nkuonera said.
On Monday, Nkuonera indicated that the school had been closed because it allegedly practiced corporal punishment, which he said was prohibited by law.
On his part, Lilongwe Police Station spokesperson Hastings Chigalu told The Daily Times that police charged 34-year-old Rogoncho with physical assault in relation to an incident that allegedly occurred on November 6 2024.
“We are still waiting for a complete scan on the victim to establish his current situation and see if it could be connected to the assault he suffered,” Chigalu said.
He further said the teacher, while admitting that he had physical contact with the student, indicated that what he gave the student was a “mere” slap on the cheek, and that he did not touch the head whatsoever.
And, in a statement, Civil Society Education Coalition Executive Director Benedicto Kondowe has supported the government’s move to close the school.
He said corporal punishment had no place in modern academic institutions.
“The Committee on the Rights of the Child defines corporal punishment as any use of physical force intended to cause pain or discomfort, including actions like hitting and degrading non-physical punishments.
“Under Article 19(1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), states are obligated to protect children from all forms of physical and mental violence,” Kondowe said.
The closed school is among one of the high-performing ones in the country.
In a related development, Private Schools Association of Malawi (Prisam) President Ernest Kaonga has appealed to the government to reopen the school, emphasising that innocent students are bearing the brunt of the closure.
He told the Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Tuesday that discussions, other than closure, were key to finding an amicable solution to the problem.
“We, as Prisam, believe that the best approach to resolve this matter is for the ministry to invite the school authorities to a roundtable to map the way forward.
“I believe that dialogue and engagement are the only viable solutions, as the closure disproportionately affects students, particularly those who are preparing for MSCE [Malawi School Certificate of Education] and JCE [Junior Certificate of Education] examinations,” Kaonga told Mana’s Charles Nkhoma.
In response, Nkuonera said the ministry had not received official communication from Prisam regarding the matter.
“However, I want to stress that we are open to discussions with Prisam. We are also working on plans to support students who are currently idle, especially those that are preparing for national examinations,” Mana quotes Nkuonera as saying
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