Promotion of dead teachers, error—PS
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Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) Principal Secretary Justin Saidi has said the inclusion of names of deceased teachers on the list of 20 210 teachers promoted last week is an error currently being rectified.
He attributed the said error to use of an electronic system which automatically generated the names of the promoted teachers.
In an interview yesterday, Saidi said: “It is true that there are some names on the list for teachers who are dead.
“This is because we used the information from the Department of Human Resources Management which automatically depicted the names. But we are working towards rectifying the error.”
While admitting the error, the PS said some relations of the deceased teachers were also to blame as they were yet to submit death certificates to the Department of Human Resources Management and Development (DHRMD) to facilitate processing of their benefits.
Said Saidi: “Technology is prone to errors. We have even involved the Teachers Union of Malawi [TUM] and other stakeholders on this.
“We will soon come up with a clean list. This might also give a chance to other teachers who were left out to be included once we are done.”
Last week, government announced the promotion of the teachers in a move welcomed by both the Civil Society on Education Coalition (Csec) and TUM.
Yesterday, TUM general secretary Charles Kumchenga said the union was in discussions with government on the way forward.
He said: “We have been receiving complaints [relating to the promotion] and we have also noted that some are appearing twice, so government has promised to work on his and some district education managers have already started working on it.”
While applauding government for the promotions, Csec executive director Benedicto Kondowe said government could have taken time to release the names of those promoted, alleging that the whole process was rushed through.
MoEST last promoted teachers in 2013, barely a year to the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections.
Kondowe said the largest group of teachers promoted was about 12 000 in 2013, a figure that has been preceded by another 20 000 tranche within the same period.
In the latest promotions, 15 491 primary school teachers have been promoted to grades K, J, I and H while at secondary school level 4 719 teachers have been promoted to grades J, I, G and F.
Saidi said the promotions were budgeted for; hence, will not have a bearing on bloating the civil service wage bill now at K393.6 billion.
He said the promoted teachers will start receiving their new salaries effective April 2019.
