Nsanje adult literacy instructors want incentives

Adult literacy education instructors in Nsanje have asked authorities to increase their honoraria to motivate them to work hard.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, Mary Bello, an instructor  from group village head Mpangira in Senior Chief Malemia, said the K15 000 she gets does not meet her basic needs.

“We feel we do a good job to teach adults how to read and write, but our efforts are not being rewarded handsomely,” she said.

Another instructor Shadreck Matope, from Nthukuso in the same area, said they needed capacity building to enable them  teach effectively.

In a separate interview, Nsanje district community development officer Patrick Supuni acknowledged the challenges facing adult literacy education in the district.

He said they have few instructors to serve the district’s nine traditional authorities.

“The district has 220 classes against 220 instructors. Out of this figure, 170 classes are for Chichewa while 50 classes are for English language,”  said Supuni.

The current session started on March 1 this year after classes were suspended last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

By then, Nsanje had an enrolment of 1 373 adult learners comprising 1 246 women and 127 men.

Meanwhile, learners have asked authorities to adjust  class time from three days to five days a week.

James Phaundi from Mwendonthengo Village in Senior Chief Tengani said it was difficult to grasp a lot of stuff delivered in few days.

Government introduced adult literacy programme in 1987 to reduce illiteracy in the country.