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Over 100 teachers not paid September salaries

Over 100 teachers from Blantyre Urban are yet to receive their September salaries.

Apart from the salaries, the teachers, like some of their colleagues in the North and Centre, have their names deleted from the payroll system.

Unpaid salaries affect teachers delivery

In an interview on Thursday last week, one of the teachers, McDonald Chisale, said they have not been told why their salaries have delayed and why their names have been deleted from the payroll.

He said: “We are suffering as we do not have any other sources of income. We have to pay rent, bills and school fees for our children. How can we support our families under such conditions? It is also surprising that we have been deleted from the system. We need answers.”

Chisale said what is worrying more is that they have been deleted from the payroll without any explanation.

Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) secretary general Charles Kumchenga confirmed the development, saying they are pushing for the teachers’ payment and also for those whose names were deleted to be put back on the payroll.

“We will see to it that these teachers get paid and we hope this happens by the 15th of this month or we will see what we can do,” he said.

When contacted yesterday, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) Justin Saidi acknowledged the problem but said it is an error that will be rectified soon.

He said: “It does not mean the salaries were used for other purposes. The Department of Human Resource Management and Development [DHRMD] and district commissioners are working to rectify the problem.”

The development comes in the wake of teachers’ threats to go on strike if government does not pay their arrears amounting to K1.7 billion accumulated since 2010.

Last year, the teachers, who constitute almost half of the 130 000 civil service workforce, staged a strike that paralysed learning in both primary and secondary schools after government delayed to pay them leave grants for the 2016/17 financial year.

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