Teachers Union of Malawi, govt talks start but flop: Strike on the cards

Ministry of Education officials on Tuesday abruptly cancelled scheduled crisis talks with officials from Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) two weeks before a strike starts across the country in public schools. [caption id="attachment_72727" align="alignright" width="200"] Muwake: Strike on May 9 if government will not give in[/caption] Ministry of Education spokesperson Manfred Ndovie said TUM was not well represented at the meeting and the government felt it was noit necessary to go ahead with the meeting. “We went to the meeting venue and found out that only two officials turned up for the important meeting, the secretary general and a coordinator. We felt there was need for more representation and we therefore asked for the postponement of the meeting,” he said. He said there was need for a way out on the matter. President of TUM Chawuluka Muwake said either the government should give in or the strike will be on May 9. TUM has organized the strike to force the government meet outstanding grievances. TUM president Chauluka Muwake said it was a joke for the government to tell those who successfully passed interviews and were promoted to Grade K or PT3 that they would get to their new position after someone on the same grade dies so the government would just make a replacement. Most teachers in Lilongwe confirmed this an interview and Nyasa Times has copies of one of the teachers who successfully passed the interviews and the government wrote her a promotion letter only to hold the promotion later until someone dies so that she could be replaced. Muwake also said most secondary school teachers were not paid in March and the government has not yet paid them until now. TUM also accuses the government of threatening to withdraw promotions of some primary school teachers who were promoted on understanding that they would take up rural school positions. “The ministry says it wants to withdraw the promotions because they had not gone to the schools where they were posted yet the government has not given them transport. Let the government provide transport,” he said. He also claimed some secondary school teachers have not yet received leave grants.