Teachers have told government to improve their working conditions as one way of ensuring quality education in the country.
This follows the commemoration of World Teachers Day on 5th October under the theme ‘The right to education means the right to a qualified teacher’.
Teachers in Malawi say the theme will remain a pipe dream if government remains inactive on various problems teachers face such as inadequate teaching and learning materials as well as poor working and living conditions.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe, Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) president, Willie Malimba, acknowledged government’s efforts in improving teachers welfare in the country.
He, however, said more needs to be done to transform the lives of teachers for the better as one way of achieving quality education in Malawi.
“We urge government to pay serious attention to teachers’ working and living conditions and ensure that resources such as laboratories and libraries are provided more especially in rural areas,” he explained.
Malimba said TUM will continue to lobby government to create a conducive environment for teaching and learning by providing the necessary tools.
In her remarks, Action Aid Malawi Thematic Manager for Education and Youth, Yandura Chipeta, asked government to step up efforts on inclusive education in order to ensure that people with special needs get educated.
Chipeta said government is supposed to train more teachers of special needs in the country by financing and allocating adequate funds to the sector to ensure that each and every child has a right to education.
“A person cannot learn how to swim if he or she is not aware how to and has no techniques which perhaps applies to the special needs teachers, we cannot expect them to teach when they do not have resources,” she said.
