In a brilliant move towards empowering education and fostering sustainability, TENERGY sighted Chipunga Community Day Secondary School in Nkhatabay, Malawi. The well-known solar energy company travelled more than 20 kilometres from Mzuzu city and installed a solar PV system in a form 2 classroom, ensuring students have access to a bright and conducive learning environment.
Chipunga Community Day Secondary School, which has become a knowledge centre in the area, only managed to supply form 3 and 4 classrooms with lighting systems. This latest effort from TENERGY has extended a privilege to form 2 learners, guaranteeing that no one is left in the dark when it comes to education.
Pius Mkandawire, Founder and Team Leader of the energy company, expressed passion for this project and regarded it as a step forward in education.
Mkandawire said: "By installing a photovoltaic system in the Form 2 classroom, we hope to provide them with the tools they need to excel academically. We learned that this school suffered difficulties due to its lack of access to the national electricity grid, due to this situation, students were forced to crowd in the form 3 and form 4 classrooms. Worse still, evening classes were a challenge to an extent that some teachers had to use the personal lighting systems for illuminating the classrooms during night classes."
The generosity does not stop there. TENERGY Company also recognised academic excellence. As part of this initiative, the company donated solar lamps to two high-performing young boys and two excellent young girls who excelled in the recently released Junior Certificate of Education (J.C.E) exams.
According to Mkandawire, the solar lamps will not only help the recipients with their studies, but will also promote the usage of sustainable energy in their homes. He added that this consideration is part of their commitment to teach the value of hard work in many students across the country as they are living to the company’s motto “powering to empower”.
Receiving the donation of the Solar PV system for the school, Village Headman Kayuni 2 of Chipunga Village, Traditional Authority Nyaluwanga praised TENERGY's generosity and urged all young graduates to create jobs and find solutions to the problems that various societies face.
He said: "It is not only the government's responsibility to provide solutions to the country's problems. Young individuals who have graduated from various universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher learning should look outside the box and begin to develop actions that will address challenges that other societies are facing."
Reacting to the donation, Starling Kondowe, a Headteacher for Chipunga Community Day Secondary School said that the system will be used for the intended purpose.
Kondowe said: “As a school, we will develop policies to ensure that the supplied solar PV system is used sustainably. I will not accept any behaviour that interferes with the correct operation of the lighting system while I am in charge of this school."
TENERGY, which was founded in 2022 with the purpose of "providing energy underserved communities with innovative and affordable solutions," provides solar home systems to rural populations through a pay as you go business model.
