Union of Private School Teachers (UPST) has given government 48 hours to open schools in cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe.

The ultimatum follows government’s last minute decision to have schools from the two cities still closed in the wake of Cholera outbreak which has devastated the country.

In a letter addressed to both the Minister of Education and the Minister of Health, UPST president Paul Kasanga demanded that schools in the two districts be opened on Monday January 9.

The union said government did not consider a number of factors which are fundamental to education in the country.

“This statement had no statistical basis to say that Blantyre and Lilongwe do not have enough boreholes in schools as compared with other districts where learning is in progress. In fact, drilling boreholes is an expensive and long-term project, yet we need urgent action.

“The two ministries must be proactive in putting in place sustainable measures and urgent actions and decisions or deal with the cases as they come not by paralyzing education as is in this case,” reads the statement in part as quoted by Nation Online.

The teachers have also downplayed government’s decision to re-introduce E-learning, saying the move flopped during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Minister of Education Agnes NyaLonje told the media recently that the move aimed at protecting the lives of the learners in these two cholera in the two cities.

“The issue is a balance between protection of life and continuity of learning,” NyaLonje told the media.

Cholera outbreak t has so far killed 595 people thus according statistics from Ministry of Health.  

Cholera is contracted by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.

It can affect children and adults, causing severe diarrhoea, and can kill within hours if left untreated.

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