Private school teachers fail to access pension funds

Private school teachers, hit hard by the freeze of their monthly pay due to covid-19 prolonged closure of schools, say they are not able to access their pension funds as earlier announced by the government.

The teachers are facing financial hardships with some of them facing evictions from houses due to non-payment of rent.

One of officials of Private Schools Teachers Association members Frazer Chipala said teachers in private schools have gone for four months without pay.

An official from one of the pension funds said there has been no commitment from Treasury and Reserve Bank of Malawi for the pension funds to start processing the money.

However, it has also been established that very few private schools put their employees, including teachers, on pension scheme.

Finance ministry spokesperson Williams Banda said the ministry would speed up the process so that the teachers can access their money in pension fund