Lilongwe DC foils teachers’ protests
Primary school teachers trained under Initial Primary Teacher Education (Ipte) and Open Distance Learning (ODL) failed to hold protests in Lilongwe on Thursday, as the District Commissioner-DC’s office claimed it was not aware of the demonstrations.
They wanted to hold demonstrations and present a petition to the DC over government’s delays in their posting.
Speaking in an interview on condition of anonymity, one of the teachers said the DC’s office claimed it had not received any communication regarding the protests.
Said the source; “It is really disappointing, we submitted the petition to his office last week Friday, we don’t understand when they say we did not seek for the DC’s concert.”
He however said some of their collogues from districts like Mulanje presented the petition to their respective DCs.
According to the source, they have since agreed to hold demonstrations next week Thursday.
Authorities from the DCs office were not readily available for comment.
Earlier, Education expert Limbani Nsapato advised MoEST to post the teachers in time to avoid undue delays and promote efficiency in the system.
Nsapato, who is Coordinator of Africa Network Campaign on Education for All (Ancefa) based in Lusaka, Zambia, said the demonstrations will paint a bad picture of government; hence, it will be good for the Ministry to act promptly.
