Teachers told to fight child labour

Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) has urged teachers in the country to take a leading role in the fight against child labour.

TUM secretary general Dennis Kalekeni made the remarks on Sunday in Ntcheu District at a sensitisation meeting for primary school teachers as the union nears the rolling out of an anti-child labour campaign supported by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Kalekeni said teachers are better placed to implement civic education activities on child labour as they extensively engage with young learners and communities.

“We are in the field which is being affected by child labour; we are close to households, estates and even in our own schools where incidents of child labour are sometimes perpetrated by teachers,” he said.

Kalekeni said apart from using the wide network of teachers to deliver education on child labour, TUM will also engage other stakeholders in the fight to ensure the programme bears fruits.

Ntcheu district education manager George Ngayaye advised the teachers to be committed to the fight against child labour, saying the malpractice is also detrimental to efforts aimed at improving quality of education in the country.

“We now have compulsory education, but we have no mechanisms to enforce the policy. People are taking children out of schools and abuse them through child labour but even before we aspire for changes in legislature, we have to do whatever is within our means to stop the practice,” said Ngayaye.

TUM is implementing the project in Ntcheu and Lilongwe districts.