Ministry of Education Principal Secretary Chikondano Mussa says government needs about K80 billion to address the country’s existing combined shortage of 65 000 teachers for primary and secondary schools.

Speaking on Wednesday when the ministry appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, she said the ministry’s wish is to recruit the teachers it has trained, but funding challenges are a barrier.

A teacher on duty

Malawi is currently struggling with a high teacher-learner ratio, which is affecting quality of education. The ideal teacher-pupil ratio for primary school is 1:60 but, according to the ministry, the country average is 1:67, though in  some schools it goes as high as 1:150.

In secondary schools, the ideal teacher-student ratio is 1:40, but the current average is 1:50.

Mussa has since called on members of Parliament to help the ministry by lobbying for more funding for the recruitment of additional teachers.

She lamented that in the 2023/24 National Budget, Treasury has allocated K8 billion for the recruitment of teachers.

Said Mussa: “Government may not have resources at one go to recruit everyone that has been trained. And we are not the only ones who are training and not recruiting everyone. Countries surrounding us are in the same situation.

“We are not recruiting all the teachers that we have trained because of resources.”

In an interview on the sidelines of the meeting, Mussa said the K8 billion will cater for the recruitment of about 3 000 primary school teachers and also about 3 000 secondary school teachers.

However, she said the ministry had planned to recruit 5 500 secondary school teachers and 5 000 primary school teachers.

Mussa said the recruitment of the 3 000 secondary and 3 000 primary school teachers is expected to take place in a few months to come, and that the ministry will this weekend advertise for the recruitment.

In response, Public Accounts Committee of Parliament chairperson Mark Botomani said government needs to prioritise the education sector, which it is the centre of development.

 “I believe that the ministry will be presenting these issues formally to the relevant committees, especially the Budget and Finance Committee of Parliament,” he said.

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