History of Primary School for the Deaf
The Embangweni Primary School for the Hard of Hearing (a.k.a. School for the Hard of Hearing) was founded in the early 1990’s at the Embangweni (Loudon) Mission Station with the urging of Mr. M.B. Hara and the Rev. Lloyd Tembo.
It was the first school for the deaf in the northern part of Malawi; before then all deaf learners traveled to a school near Blantyre in southern Malawi.
The original school served only students considered “preschool” level, despite their age. At first the school held classes and housed students in a building rented from the local church Women’s Guild, but as growth was constant the need for its own campus was apparent. With funding from Marion Medical Mission (MMM), the first building with five rooms was built. Two of these were used as classrooms; two for sleeping quarters; and the other for dining. The first formal classroom block was built with funding from Dr. and Mrs. “Hots” Easley, who also assisted with financing for teacher houses. After completion of the first main classroom block, the school was dedicated and officially opened on September 21, 1996. That school block had four classrooms, the head teacher’s office, an office for the school secretary, two store rooms and a room used as a staff room and for all-school morning devotions. This first school block is still in use.
The original building is still in use as the girls’ hostel. Marion Medical Mission also provided funds for several teacher houses.
In 1997 there were 42 students enrolled with a faculty of 6, including Mr. M.B. Hara who came out of retirement to teach at school. The headteacher was Mr. E.G. Mtonga, who served from the beginning of the school in 1994 until 2000 and again from 2002 until 2005.
A second classroom block with 3 classrooms was built and in use by 2000; the chapel and a boys’ hostel were built and in use by 2001. The chapel is sometimes referred to as the “McGill Chapel”, but the McGill family prefers not to use that title. The boys’ hostel was funded by MMM and by the Fred and Martelle Nussbaumer trust.
As the school continued to grow, additional teacher houses and classroom blocks were built with help from a number of donors. The school campus in 2021 includes the original Preschool block, Infant Section (Classes 1-3) in the second-built block, Lower Primary (Classes 4-6) housed in 2 additional blocks and Upper Primary (Classes 7-9) in the final classroom block. Between the Lower Primary blocks is a building housing the deputy headteacher’s office plus the staff room/library. There are also storage rooms and a room used by the speech therapist when there is one available. Somewhat removed from the main buildings are two blocks housing the woodshop and tailoring facilities plus extra classroom space.
From the charter class of 1994 onward, students consistently have done well on the school leaving exam given to all Malawian students completing Primary School. Many of the learners have gone to secondary school and a number have completed Form 4. This is something not accomplished easily even by hearing students. Over the past 26+ years the school has touched and improved the lives of many children and they in turn have shown their communities that “deaf is not death. Disability is not inability.”
Over the past sixteen years, the school has been led by 4 Headteachers and 3 interim head teachers. Mr. E.G. Mtonga served as head from the beginning until the fall of 2000, when he left to pursue advanced education in the UK. During his absence, Mr. C.K. Mondwe was the interim head. Mr. Mtonga returned in 2002 and led the school until 2005. Mr. M.M. Hara became head teacher in 2006; he served in that capacity until early 2015. Mr. Z.K.K. Bvutani became acting head on Mr. Hara’s departure and served until Mr. C.K. Mondwe returned to the school to act as head teacher in 2016. Upon Mr. Mondwe’s retirement on December 31, 2019, Mr. Jolia Mahemane assumed the duties as interim head teacher. He continued in that role until the arrival in 2021 of Mr. Movert Manda, who is presently the head teacher. Mr. Mahemane continues as deputy head teacher.
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