Minister of Education Agnes NyaLonje has disclosed that government is working in collaboration with Mzuzu University on development of a virtual laboratory.

Disclosing this in Parliament, NyaLonje said the development has been considered in order to provide equal education to all secondary schools across the country especially in science subjects.

Speaking to Yoneco FM, NyaLonje said officials from her ministry are currently analysing the virtual laboratory before it is adopted.

“When it comes to Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSS), the majority do not have these facilities and yet the curriculum is the same whether you are at CDSS or not and this is something that we have been pointing at,” she said.

“So, in recognition of the challenge and making sure that we provide services that have equity at heart, this government is looking at all possible ways to make sure that our learners can have access to what they need in order to learn science.”

She added that such labs will be cost-effective as compared to construction of physical laboratories in most secondary schools that do not have one, especially in rural settings.

“More cost effective that building a laboratory at every school and we have over 700 CDSS the majority of which don’t have labs,” NyaLonje said.

“Like this moment, if we were to find money to build labs in all these schools, it will take us years and years, so a virtual lab will be immediately available to every schools and our youth will able to learn science in the manner they ought to learn.”