Wednesday, April 14, 2021
  • About Us
  • ImagiNATION
  • Adverts
  • Rate Card
  • Contact Us
The Nation Online
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home Front Page

Teachers split on nationwide strike

by Precious Kumbani
05/07/2016
in Front Page, National News
3 min read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare on LinkedinLinkedinShare via Email

Public primary and secondary school teachers are divided over a Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) calls for a nationwide strike as some are working whereas others started a sit-in on Friday.

The Nation spot checks at some schools in Blantyre and Lilongwe established that business is normal in most of the schools as students are writing their end of year examinations.

RelatedHeadlines

World Vision trains learners, others in child protection

Salima Council to hunt illegal miners

500 enrol in adult literacy course

Teachers are seen in a previous strike
Teachers are seen in a previous strike

Some teachers The Nation talked to in Blantyre said they were not yet sure if the sit-in would materialise as last time it was botched.

The call for the sit-in follows the expiry of the June 30 deadline which TUM gave to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) to resolve teachers’ grievances.

The union cited issues of promotion and salary adjustments of teachers, failure by the ministry to pay secondary school teachers their 2015/16 leave grants and delay in payment of salary arrears for primary school teachers as some of the outstanding grievances.

Newton Chafukira, TUM chairperson for Dedza, said in an interview yesterday that students in the district are not sitting for end of term examinations as teachers have laid down their tools.

However, he said Form Four students have not been affected as TUM ordered all teachers invigilating Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations to join the sit-in after the end of the examination.

Reports from Nsanje also indicate that teachers there had joined the sit-in as of yesterday.

In the North, Mzimba South district education manager (DEM) Lemani Mvula and Nkhata Bay DEM Mzondi Moyo both said they had not heard of any school on strike.

However, a teacher in Mzuzu said he believes the strike is going on but the impact cannot be felt because of the MSCE examination in progress.

TUM president Chauluka Muwake said they expect government to implement all their demands, adding the sit-in will continue when schools reopen in September if government fails to meet the demands. The 2015/16 academic year ends on July 15.

Muwake said the union has been having meetings with officials from government but nothing is being done.

He said: “We have waited for too long for them to fulfil their promises but nothing is being done. These issues have been discussed several times and they could have been given priority but instead they are focusing on some other issues.

“Government cannot [say] that it does not have money. Where did it get the money to give members of Parliament [MPs] when they demanded an increment in Constituency Development Fund (CDF)? Teachers, too, are important.”

But commenting on the matter, Treasury spokesperson Nations Msowoya said the amount that is spent on CDF cannot compare to what will be spent on the demands the teachers are making.

While he agreed that salary adjustments for the promoted teachers will have an effect on the already bloated government wage bill currently at K300 billion, Msowoya said Treasury is working on modalities to sort out the issues.

MoEST spokesperson Manfred Ndovi said the ministry is yet to receive official communication from TUM on the strike and map the way forward.

He said the ministry wrote TUM last week asking for more time as the issues raised are handled by different departments.

Said Ndovi: “The issues they raised need time to be implemented because they involve different government departments and agencies such as the National Audit Office, the Human Resources Department and the Treasury. As a ministry, we are also waiting from these departments.”

He was optimistic that in the 2016/17 budget, Treasury will allocate funds to MoEST to sort out the grievances.

Ndovi said as a ministry, they are worried that the strike will disturb admission of end of term examinations which started last week in primary and secondary schools.

But Muwake said MoEST is to blame for any psychological effect the learners may go through due to failure to sit the exams.

In April this year, TUM gave MoEST up to May 9 to resolve teachers’ grievances or face a nationwide sit-in, but the strike was called off after discussions between the two sides.

TUM has a membership of about 37 000 teachers from both public primary and secondary schools against the total teacher population of about 78 000.

Avatar
Precious Kumbani
Previous Post

BB fans seek sponsor’s intervention to avert boycott

Next Post

Missed opportunity

Related Posts

children | The Nation Online
National News

World Vision trains learners, others in child protection

April 13, 2021
miners | The Nation Online
National News

Salima Council to hunt illegal miners

April 13, 2021
learners 1 | The Nation Online
National News

500 enrol in adult literacy course

April 13, 2021
Next Post
Temwa: I could not go to school on an empty stomach

Missed opportunity

Opinions and Columns

Political Uncensored

Managing the dream

April 11, 2021
My Thought

Malawi needs fixing, not politicking

April 11, 2021
People’s Tribunal

Don’t intimidate Nyasaland Union of Teachers

April 11, 2021
Emily Mkamanga

Longevity in power no solution

April 11, 2021
https://www.mwnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/WFP-Afikepo-1-2.pdf https://www.mwnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/WFP-Afikepo-1-2.pdf https://www.mwnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/WFP-Afikepo-1-2.pdf

Trending Stories

  • Namadingo | The Nation Online

    Made See needs help—Namadingo

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chakwera wants Malawi Airlines woes resolved

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • NAO concludes K6.2bn audit report

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Billions spent,No safe water

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Covid-19 measures relaxed, bars open till late

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Values
  • Our Philosophy
  • Editorial policy
  • Advertising Policy
  • Code of Conduct
  • Plagiarism disclaimer
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use

© 2021 Nation Publications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation

© 2020 Nation Publications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.