Amid the teachers’ strike led by Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM), Government has hit TUM where the government believes will hurt the union the most, the pockets.
According to reports, the Government will no longer deduct K500 from salaries of teachers who are members of TUM.
The government’s excuse for stopping the deductions is that the money collected has never been audited and the union is not accountable.
Teachers who are members of the union will now have a choice whether to give the monthly fee to TUM or not.
There are over 76000 teachers who are TUM members which means the union collects K38 million a month, translating to K456 million a year.
There have been concerns from teachers over the use of the money and some teachers have been complaining that they are deducted money from their salaries even though they are not TUM members.
However, the move to stop the deductions has come at a time when there is a standoff between TUM and government over Covid-19 allowances.
Teachers led by TUM are demanding K35,000 each in allowances but government has been claiming that teachers are not at risk and they should instead get vaccinated.
In March teachers stayed away from work for two weeks but resumed work after government promised to distribute to teachers turn money initially meant for procuring prevention equipment for the teachers.
The teachers have resumed their strike after government failed to fulfil the promise.
