TB Lessons at Hangalawe Primary School Hampered by Lack of Resource Books
TB lessons affected by lack of resource books in Karonga, writes Meclina Chirwa.
Karonga, Malawi-The lack of TB resource books is said to be affecting TB lessons at Hangalawe Primary School in Karonga district, Malawi, writes Meclina Chirwa.
One of the teachers at the school, Mathews Kalua, told AfricaBrief that teachers are finding it hard to prepare lesson plans without resource books.
"Much as the lessons are important, teachers are finding it difficult to prepare because we don't have resource books," Kalua said.
"This can be addressed if the government can consider incorporating the lesson into the education curriculum. But so far so good, the learners are eager to learn more about TB which is very encouraging."
Knowledge of TB and attitudes and perceptions about the disease influence care-seeking behaviour and adherence to treatment.
Like in other countries, studies in Malawi have been conducted to assess the knowledge and attitudes on TB in adults.
Some studies have even assessed the association between knowledge, attitudes and other factors.
In Malawi, prevalent health problems are included in the primary school curricula to create awareness and promote desired behaviour towards the disease among children attending school.
However, school children's knowledge of TB has not yet been quantified. It is also not known what their attitudes and perceptions are, regarding the disease.
To address the knowledge gap, the National TB and Leprosy Elimination Program initiated TB lessons in some schools across the country.
One of the schools is Hangalawe in Karonga district. Speaking in an interview, one of the learners Kelvin Mkandawire said TB lessons have proved to be productive in terms of raising awareness.
"The lessons are very good. Imagine now we know the causes, signs and symptoms of TB and the preventive measures. When we learn, we convey the same message to our parents and relatives in the community so that if one experiences such symptoms they should not hesitate but rush to the hospital," he said.
Headteacher for the school Andrew Ngonya said the lack of resource books is a big problem which needs immediate address.
"My appeal to the Ministry of Health is to provide us with enough resource books to ease the burden on our teachers. Much as they are trying but without books it’s difficult to prepare," he said.
TB in children is treatable and preventable provided it is diagnosed on time. Unfortunately, the global health community is failing to diagnose and find the majority of children with TB due to the challenges faced when testing children.
Data from the World Health Organization's 2022 global tuberculosis report shows that only 40% of the slightly more than one million children suspected to have TB were reported.
Another well written and important article by Africa brief.