Malawi: Ministry of Education would recruit 4,200 Auxiliary Teachers on a one-year academic contract. The appointments are being done under the Malawi Education Reform Programme (MERP).
The announcement was made through a press conference on Monday. According to Secretary for Education Dr Mangani Katundu, the Auxiliary Teachers would be drawn from the Initial Primary Teacher Education (IPTE) Cohorts of 14, 15 and 16.
Ministry of Education, Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mphatso Nkuonera confirmed the development to the media. The Ministry said teachers for the temporary teaching positions are expected to report in respective workstations on September 1, 2024 for 2024-25 academic calendar.
“The Ministry has adjusted the honoraria for auxiliary teacher posts by 50 percent from K80,000 to K120,000 per month. A list of eligible schools for auxiliary teachers has been sent to all district education offices,” he stated.
Nkuonera said the engagement of Auxiliary Teachers forms part of the efforts by the government to reduce the pupil-qualified-teacher ratio across the country.
Education expert from Mzuzu University, Douglas Nyirenda applauded the government for the initiative. He claimed that it would reduce the teacher-pupil ratio which was very high in the Southern Africa Development Committee (SADC) countries including Malawi.
He said it was sad that the teacher-pupil ratio was currently at about 120 pupils per teacher, which was not favourable and conducive to effective learning.
“The initiative by the government to recruit additional teachers will help teachers to have a sizeable number of pupils and have more attention that a teacher can give to learners. It will increase more time for remedial support that a teacher can give to learners,” Nyirenda noted.
He added that the increase in the honorarium by 50 percent would motivate auxiliary teachers.
The engagement of Auxiliary Teachers is one of the components in the MERP project. Further, it is further constructing 10,900 classrooms and 1,000 sanitary blocks across the country.
The project is training school leadership for effective school management, engaging learner mentors as well as disbursing School Improvement Grants for day-to-day school operations.
MERP is funded by Malawi Government, World Bank as well as Global Partnership for Education.