Government gives public varsity staff 25% pay hike
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology says government has approved a new salary structure for public universities with a 25 percent increase effective July 1 2013.
This development has prompted the University of Malawi Students Union (Umsu) to cancel their planned vigil initially scheduled for tomorrow morning at Parliament Building in Lilongwe to protest government’s delay to give their lecturers a pay hike.
A letter announcing the news signed by Ministry of Education, Science and Technology principal secretary Dr. MacPhail Magwira reads in part: “Government has made consultations and has approved the new salary structures with 25 percent increase with effect from 1st July 2013.”
And speaking in an interview with Nation Online (www.mwnation.com) on yesterday, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology spokesperson Rebecca Phwitiko said salaries for the country’s two of the three operational public universities—the University of Malawi (Unima) and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar)—have been increased by 25 percent.
Said Phwitiko: “Government has also reviewed the increment effected at Luanar in July and given Luanar the go-ahead to proceed with that increment as effected.”
She said Mzuzu University (Mzuni) salaries are also under review to be at par with the other two public universities—Unima and Luanar.
Phwitiko said the increments will be financed with savings from within the current 2013/14 national budget of the affected institutions as Treasury will not allocate additional resources.
Two weeks ago, the Industrial Relations Court (IRC) issued an order stopping the council of Luanar from implementing a Ministry of Education order to reduce staff salaries by 25 percent.
Unima staff went on a strike demanding a pay hike by the same percentage, a development that has delayed the opening of three of its four constituent college—Chancellor College (Chanco), the Polytechnic and Kamuzu College of Nursing (KCN). Only College of Medicine, another constituent college of Unima, is still operational.
