By Glory Msowoya
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) has started consultations and data collection process from concerned stakeholders in preparation for the formulation of National Teacher Policy in the Country.
Ministry’s Chief Education Officer, Mary Chirwa told Malawi News Agency (Mana) in Blantyre Saturday that currently, the Country lacks a standalone policy to be used by teachers.
“Government and other development partners in the education sector plans to come up with a policy as one way of addressing policy dimensions in the areas of teachers recruitment and continuing teachers education, just to mention a few,” she said.
Chirwa called on partners in the education sector to come forth and provide ideas on how best to formulate the policy.
“There is need for collective efforts from all stakeholders in developing this policy. There are so many issues that need to be addressed through this policy. For instance, issues of absenteeism, poor conditions of work for teachers and deployment-related issues,” she said.
General Secretary for Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM), Charles Kumchenga said National Teacher’s policy is a very significant tool for boosting the education sector in the country.
He called on government to speed up the process so that the policy should be in operational soon.
“Teachers have been underrated in the country in terms of lack of motivation; I believe that this policy will address some of the issues affecting the education sector,” Kumchenga pointed out.
Senior Research, Policy and Education analyst working with African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP), Steve Sharra said previous efforts to enhance teacher education, management and development in the country proves futile due to the absence of the National Teacher Policy.
“The National Teacher Policy will be an important document. When one looks at previous attempts to reform and enhance, one finds that past efforts failed because there was no National Teacher Policy guiding the reforms.
“For the country to achieve its potential, it needs to develop human capital and capabilities so that every Malawian is empowered and equipped to take full responsibility,” he said.
MoEST in conjunction with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are facilitating the development of a National Teacher Policy in order to provide political leadership and policy in addressing challenges in the teaching profession.
