Teachers give government ultimatum over recruitment
In a bid to push government to employ them two years after graduating, 9 000 Initial Primary Teacher Education 8 (IPTE 10) and Open Distance Learning 5 (ODL5) teachers have given an August 10 deadline to get hired or they will demonstrate in Lilongwe on August 13.
The teachers graduated from teacher training colleges (TTCs) in July 2016 and were supposed to be deployed by September of the same year.
The teachers said several attempts to draw government’s attention to the matter has not yielded positive results as the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) .
But MoEST spokesperson Lindiwe Chide said the ministry is finalising the recruitment of the concerned teachers.
“We have completed all preliminary preparations and we will soon start deploying them. It’s not a delay, it is the way we planned it. We have been waiting for authorisations, establishments, recruitment warrants and everything is almost done now,” she said.
Speaking on behalf of the teachers, Felix Chapinga, who graduated from Kasungu TTC, said they plan to deliver a petition to MoEST headquarters at Capital Hill and Local Government Service Commission.
In the 2018/19 budget, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe said government plans to recruit 10 500 primary school teachers, 500 secondary school teachers and 1 000 medical personnel.
In July 2016, government recruited about 10 000 IPTE8 and ODL3 primary school teachers after they waited for two years.
The country’s pupil-teacher ratio is currently at 75:1 on average against the recommended ratio of 60:1.
