By Shaffie A Mtambo
In a bid to regulate the teaching profession, the Malawi government has announced that unregistered teachers will not be allowed to practice effective April 1. This move comes after the Teacher’s Council of Malawi (TCM) received a significant number of applications from teachers seeking registration and licensing.
According to Associate Professor Golden Msilimba, Director of Quality Assurance Services in the Ministry of Education, the TCM has received 60,053 applications from student teachers for indexing, 93,372 teachers applied for registration, and 42,844 applied for licensing. Msilimba emphasized that by March 31, the final document with all registered teachers and education administrators will be ready, and the law will be in full force starting April 1.
The registration process has been delayed due to manual applications, but the TCM is encouraging teachers to register online to speed up the process. Registered teachers will be required to undergo Continuous Professional Development (CPD) every three years and pay a licensing fee of K15,000 annually, totaling K45,000 over three years.
TCM Registrar Grace Mphandamkoko expressed hope that the remaining unregistered teachers will register by March 31. The Director of Teacher Education and Development in the Ministry of Education, Dr. Zizwa Msukuma, assured that his directorate will ensure teachers continue to undergo CPD, which will be captured by the TCM for license renewal purposes.
