Leah Chiweza Banda – MANA
Teachers have hailed the National Teachers Policy (NTP) currently in consultation stage, saying the legislation will ease their career path in terms of promotion.
Teachers from different districts in the country participated in a conference in Lilongwe on Monday to give their views which will be basis for the formulation and implementation of the National Teachers Policy saying Once completed and implemented, the policy aims at improving the teachers’ welfare in Malawi.
In an interview with a Blantyre Secondary School teacher, Chifuniro Kamwendo, said the policy will be a pathway for overcoming one of the serious challenges teachers have faced for a long time.
“Without proper guidelines, the promotion procedure does not go as required. There are cases when a teacher works for more than ten years without promotion, and in a worst scenario, some even retire on the same grade,” she said.
Commenting on the development, Education Specialist responsible for Teachers Education under the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Milandu Mwale, said the NTP will support teachers’ education, help in accountability, professionalization and the initiative will also provide a platform that will bring teachers together to address certain issues and inform the policy developers and framers on what is practical and how best they can improve on issues that are on the ground.
In his remarks, Director of Administration in the Ministry of Education, James Manyetera, said as a ministry, they are working together that the policy framework puts teachers at the core of ensuring access to quality education as implementers of the curriculum and facilitators of learning.
