Govt recruit, promote secondary school teachers

The pupil teacher ratio in secondary schools is expected to reduce following the recruitment and promotion of teachers.

A statement from the ministry of education indicates that the government has recruited 2,681 teachers and promoted 2,259 others.

In addition, 3,997 teachers have been promoted as senior teachers or heads of departments.

Pressure has been piling on the government to recruit additional teachers following the unbalanced pupil teacher ration which is contributing to the lowering of education standards.

The recommended teacher pupil ratio is 1:40 but due to inadequate teachers, it is mostly at 1:80 while in some instances it is up to 1:100.

In reaction, Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) president Willy Malimba has welcomed the recruitment.

“Am very glad that finally our major challenge has been addressed. It was sad that some teachers who graduated five years ago were not recruited despite having a shortage of teachers in public schools,” Malimba said.

He added that he was hopeful that the promotion would motivate the teachers to work hard.

“The standards of education had lowered and we believe it was somehow necessitated by a lack of motivation as it had taken some time for such promotions to be effected,” he added.