Govt to recruit 5 000 teachers

President Lazarus Chakwera says government plans to recruit 5 000 secondary school teachers in the financial year ending on March 31 to be deployed to public secondary schools nationwide.

He said this yesterday at Mkanga Community Day Secondary School (CDSS) in Salima District where he presided over the handover of 66 schools built under the $90 million United States Government-funded Secondary School Expansion for Development (Seed) Project.

Chakwera said government has also upgraded the country’s six education division managers from Grade E/ P4 to Grade E/P3 while head teachers of the 21 big secondary schools in the country have been moved to principal head teacher level at Grade E/P4.

Said the President: “The point of doing all these things is that if we are going to create quality citizens, then we need to make sure they sit under quality teaching and that they go to schools that have quality leadership, and that is something we are investing in.”

Under the project, implemented on behalf of the US Government by USAid in partnership with the Government of Malawi through the Ministry of Education as the lead institution and the ministries of Finance and Economic Affairs, Health, and Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, 141 schools will be constructed, of which a total of 89 schools are expected to be handed over to government by the end of the year.

Ministry of Education Principal Secretary Chikondano Mussa in an interview said government will release names of the new recruits and those promoted in the next three weeks.

On her part, Deputy Minister of Education Nancy Chaola Mdooko said in choosing sites for the Seed project, the ministry identified and recommended the most crowded urban schools and underserved rural communities as prime locations.

She said government also identified and placed qualified teachers for the additional 5 760 student places in overcrowded urban schools and for the 15 840 more in the 66 new rural CDSSs.

Said Mdooko: “Through the Seed project, we have not only increased access to secondary education or created job opportunities, but also addressed some specific needs of adolescent girls and young women.”

US Embassy chargé d’affaires Amy Diaz said apart from creating over 27 000 spaces for secondary students every year, theproject is restoring learners opportunities to pursue their dreams, especially for those who had abandoned school.

She said through the project, 96 classrooms have been built in 30 overcrowded urban schools.

Each new s chool complex under the project includes four classrooms, one science classroom, an administrative and a storage room.

It also includes a borehole and latrines to promote good hygiene; a girls changing room so that female students have clean and private facilities to use; two teacher houses to incentivise educators to go to the rural locations where schools are built; furniture, and an initial supply of textbooks and lab equipment.

The new secondary school teachers will be recruited in grades TI and TJ.

A memorandum of understanding on the Seed Project was entered into by the Government of Malawi and the US Government in July 2018.

As part of its contribution to the project, the Malawi Government is expected to recruit, train and fund salaries for new teachers; incorporate comprehensive sex education in the national curriculum to keep young people HIV-free; and ensure youth-friendly health services near the secondary school grounds.

Out of the targeted 141 urban and rural public CDSSs under the Seed Project—90 sites have been completed, 51 sites are currently under construction.