Teachers' may soon be rich in bluff meals

Against poor infrastructure in schools: Msaka (second from left)
That Malawi's education sector faces a plethora of challenges is public knowledge.

Poor infrastructure. Demotivated teachers due to poor pay.

Teachers' anger arising out of the fact that the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has been 'refusing' to give teachers who have upgraded their fair dues.

There are many problems but none beats that of poor infrastructure.

Earlier this year, innocent learners at Natchengwa  Primary School in Zomba died after a wall of what was supposed to be a classroom collapsed on them.

It is a problem with a deep surface because the solutions cannot be found in the village but Capital Hill, the seat of the Malawi Government in Lilongwe.

Surprisingly, Education Minister Bright Msaka has said the government is preparing a circular; it is banning the posting of teachers to schools that have poor infrastructure.

This, to say the truth, cannot work. It cannot work because it is not the responsibility of school management to construct school blocks.

It is the duty of the ministry and everyone knows that the ministry has been failing in its duty. It, as Central Government, does not provide enough resources to Local Government and then blames the latter for failing to erect structures that meet standards.

It is hypocrisy of the highest level and teachers should not read much into Msaka's recent pronouncements.

The Central Government should provide enough resources first and enforce its new rule.

It is as simple as that.