Malawi faces 83,000 teachers’ shortage
The Civil Society Education Coalition (Csec) has said Malawi’s primary schools have a deficit of 83,000 teachers.
“The development has resulted in Malawi failing to achieve the 1:40 teacher-learner ratio as highlighted in the National Education Sector Plan,” said Csec Executive Director Benedicto Kondowe.
The government initially indicated that it would ensure that attainment of the 1:40 teacher-learner ratio was done by 2019 but later extended it to 2022 after noting that it was far from being achieved.
However, Csec expressed doubt that the plan, which is now being called Education Sector Plan, could be achieved by 2022, which is next year.
According to Csec records, in some schools, one teacher attends to over 100 learners.
Research done by Action Aid, which is a Csec partner, indicates that the teacher-to-learner ratio remains too high mostly in rural areas.
Education Ministry spokesperson Chikondi Chimala said he needed time to cross-check the information.
Mathews Kasanda is a journalist who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Malawi (The Polytechnic).
In 2015, Media Institute of Southern Africa awarded him the Best Print Media Education Journalist of the Year accolade.
He joined Times Group Newsroom in September 2019.
