The Teachers Council of Malawi (TCM) has said teachers who do not secure licences by April 1 2025 will not be allowed to teach, adding non-compliant teacher will face a fine of K300 000.
The council, which falls under the Directorate of Quality Assurance in the Ministry of Education, started registering teachers and issuing licences to ensure that only qualified teachers are allowed to teach. The licences will be renewed after three years.
In an interview yesterday, Ministry of Education director of quality assurance Golden Msilimba said the licencing applies to early childhood development (ECD) and primary school teachers, secondary teachers and teachers training colleges (TTC).
He said so far, only about 40 000 teachers have applied for licences out of over 80 000 registered teachers, adding that the council has so far issued 10 000 licences.
The director indicated that licence fees for ECD and Primary school teachers stands at K15 000, for secondary school teachers is at K24 000, while TTC teachers pay K35 000.
Said Msilimba: “A licence is what takes one to the classroom. Teachers that have license will be the ones teaching. It is the same thing as doctors. Doctors that attend to patients are licensed.
“Anyone with the teaching qualification can register with the council, others are even in the banks but for them to teach they will need to have licences.”
He called on teachers to ensure that they apply for the licences, saying the council has already started monitoring and from April 1, no unlicensed teacher will be allowed in class.
“The council has enough inspectors to carry out inspections and in the event that it is overwhelmed, the Ministry of Education will support it with its inspectors to ensure that only licensed teachers are on the ground teaching,” said the director.
Asked if the council has the capacity to issue all licences by April 1, Msilimba said there are several printing stations and the council has the capacity to print about 15 000 licences a week.
Government had earlier set December 31 2024 as the deadline for the teachers registration.
Msilimba attributed the low number of licences issued to hardcopy applications that most teachers are making.
He said teachers that defy the licence requirement will be fined K300 000 while a headteacher that allows unlicensed teachers will have to pay K500 000.
Meanwhile, Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) secretary general Charles Kumchenga has said TCM should stop the habit of threatening teachers, saying whatever challenges are being faced by teachers to get licensed are the making of TCM.
