To build the Malawi we want, start with the way we treat teachers

Malawi News Hardtalk Interview by Rebecca Chimjeka (6th March, 2021)

RC: In your view are the teachers justified to demand risk allowances during the covid-19 pandemic?

SS: The teachers' strike brings into sharp relief difficult dilemmas from both sides, and calls for our best thinking for what is good for the education system, and for the country, in the long term. From the teachers’ side, one needs to appreciate the decades of official neglect, insignificance and undermining of the profession teachers have endured. As civil servants, teachers view their benefits, their public image and their noble role, in comparison to other civil servants. The differences are stark. Teachers see what is happening to public finances, in particular funds meant for fighting covid-19, and see their names implicated when they have not partaken in the plunder. Teachers are sharply aware of the unfairness, the elite ridicule, and what they see as the government’s inconsiderate attitude.

On the government’s side, the worry is understandably on the effect of any decisions on the public purse, the precedence this sets for other sectors, and the fate of millions of children. These are valid and genuine worries.

There is differential treatment towards the teachers in terms of how risk allowances are being allocated and how personal protection equipment (PPE) is being distributed. Teachers were told they would have to make their own masks, and were given training. Yet expenditure reports indicated that teachers were given masks. Most of the equipment and funds they received were inadequate, yet expenditure reports were bloated with false figures. Whether teachers are justified or not in striking needs to be understood in that context.

RC: Do you think Government is handling the sit in by teachers properly?

SS: Seen from the public gallery, Government seems to be taking the teachers for granted. It is rather curious that recommendations for risk allowances made by the education covid-19 task force in July 2020 were conveniently ignored and no explanation was provided. We are getting reports that in the crisis meetings that have been happening this week, the issue of allowances is being evaded and avoided. It makes one question whether government is negotiating in good faith.

RC: If one were to say it's morally wrong for teachers who were at home for 3 months on full pay, to now demand allowances from Government just when they have been told to go back to work, what will be your comment?

SS: What is morally wrong is to treat teachers as second class civil servants and to ignore their pleas for fairness and equality in how they are treated. The demand for allowances is not coming out of nowhere. It is coming from a perception of perennial persecution and insignificance, and a history of occupational invisibility. One wishes teachers did not choose this awkward, sensitive moment to stage the strike, given everything that has happened with covid-19 since March 2020. But truth be told, we need to be empathetic towards the teachers’ struggle for fairness and equality. There is virtue in acknowledging mis-steps in handling an unprecedented crisis such as this pandemic, and taking concrete steps to correct things. If done in good faith and in appreciation of the plight teachers are in, most teachers are reasonable, understanding and patriotic.

RC: If Government was to bow down to their demands, do you think it will be sustainable and what economic consequences will this have for Malawi?

SS: We need to think in the long term. Teachers are the foundation the country needs to set itself on the path to inclusive, equitable wealth creation and self-reliance, as we have expressed in the new long term vision, Malawi 2063. Achieving that long term vision is crucially dependent on a teaching workforce that is highly motivated, highly educated, and attracts the best and brightest young Malawians. That type of teaching workforce would transform this country beyond any short term considerations, and would put the country on a path to long term sustainability and economic prosperity.

RC: Anything you want to add?

SS: Two things. First, the culture of allowances has been allowed to fester and to distort our work ethic and government’s obligations to improve remuneration in the civil service. What we are seeing today is a legacy of that problem. It is a welcome development that there is now a taskforce to study and review the public service procedures, including allowances.

Lastly, a lot of things need to change if we are to achieve our societal dreams and aspirations. We need to build a society that values hard work, integrity, ethical conduct, human dignity, fairness, equity and equality, compassion, resilience, self-reliance, trust in our capabilities, and hope for the future. To build such a society, it must start with the way we treat teachers, and it will transfer to the society at large. Teachers will be critical in inculcating these values into the young Malawians who will deliver the Malawi we want.

Note: A version of this interview appeared on the Hardtalk page of the Malawi News on Saturday, 6th March, 2021.