Ray of hope for 2 275 auxiliary teachers

 Minister of Education Agnes NyaLonje says Treasury has agreed to release funding for the 2 275 auxiliary teachers until March next year when they will be incorporated into the national budget.

The minister said this in Mzuzu yesterday on the sidelines of an interaction with education officials from Mzimba North, Mzimba South, Likoma, Mzuzu City and Nkhata Bay education zones.

The teachers under the Initial Primary Teacher Education 13 cohort were recruited in February 2021, as part of efforts to de-congest classrooms to reduce the further spread of Covid 19.

NyaLonje said: “It is not that straightforward to get resources for education because resources needed are massive.

“We fought and fought to bring auxiliary teachers on board, keep them on board, and as at last night, Treasury agreed to give us further money.

The minister said the resources will enable the ministry to keep them on board until March when they will be incorporated into the budget.

She said: “For these teachers, it is not given that the money was there, it wasn’t. We fought and we have gone to the ends of the earth to find the money, and we have been given this final stretch until the next budget.”

NyaLonje further said they are hoping to incorporate them permanently in the next budget and they are working hard to get that done.

However, the minister did not provide the exact amount that Treasury will provide. They receive K80 000 each, meaning government parting with K261.6 million monthly.

The meeting in Mzuzu came after NyaLonje and her deputy Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima held a similar one in Karonga on Wednesday.

The meeting is aimed at getting education authorities together, so that they brainstorm on the challenges facing the sector in the country.

One of the auxiliary teachers, Nephtally Phiri, said yesterday their last contracts expired in August and they are waiting for government to inform them on the way forward.

“We are told that after October, there will be no money, so if that money has been released, it will really help. But let me state that all we want is permanent employment,” he said.

According to the 2019/2020 Education Sector Performance Report, teacher qualification is an area that needs to be looked into as the country still uses personnel with a Malawi School Certificate of Education as secondary school teachers.

It says the teaching profession in the country’s secondary schools continues to have a significant population of personnel with non-education certification at diploma (1 274), bachelor’s degree (1 420) and master’s degree (160) levels.

This means that the sub-sector has around 18.5 percent of non-qualified teachers in different schools across the country.

The auxiliary teachers were first given a five-month contract in February, which was later extended to August after its expiry in June.

They have since been pushing for permanent employment.