Malawi teachers suspend Covid-19 risk allowance strike
Malawi teachers have suspended their strike over a Covid-19 risk allowance to allow talks with the government to continue.
RUSTENBURG, April 13 (ANA) – Learning and teaching are expected to resume in Malawi on Tuesday after teachers suspended their week-long strike over a Covid-19 risk allowance.
The president of the Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM), Willie Malimba, said the strike was suspended on Monday after the union and the government signed a consent order to postpone the court case in which the Ministry of Education had applied for an interdict at the industrial court in the capital Lilongwe.
“TUM and government have agreed to postpone the case, paving a way for amicable negotiation around the teachers’ demand for cash packages for personal protective equipment amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said in a statement on Monday night.
Teachers downed tools on April 6 in a bid to push the government to comply with its commitment to provide teachers with personal protective equipment in a cash-costed package as a one-off payment to cover three months.
Teachers went on strike on February 22, demanding that they be paid a Covid-19 risk allowance. They had not been included in the risk allowance as the government regarded the education sector as a low Covid-19 risk compared with the health sector.
The strike was suspended on March 9 after the government committed to honouring the agreement to deliver the package.
News website Malawi24 reported in March that the union agreed to the coronavirus presidential task force’s proposal for the government to turn personal protective equipment meant for teachers into cash and give the money to the teachers.
According to the publication, under this arrangement, each teacher would receive about US$12.61 (10,000 kwacha) covering three months.
Teachers downed tools again on April 6 after the government failed to fulfil its promise. After a week-long strike the government approached the industrial court on Friday to apply for an injunction to end the strike.
The union contested the application and the two sides agreed that the government would stop its court matter and teachers would return to class while they worked on an amicable solution.
The teachers’ strike came at a time when Malawi experienced the worst-ever secondary school pass rate.
On April 1, Education Minister Agnes NyaLonje announced that the country had obtained 41.42%, the lowest pass rate in more than a decade.
Secondary school examinations in Malawi were cancelled on November 3, 2020, after several question papers were leaked.
The examinations were rescheduled for January 5.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
