Teachers against Teachers Council of Malawi sponsored video clips, saying its insulting and demeaning
Teachers across the country have expressed dismay over video clips sponsored by the Teachers Council of Malawi (TCM), arguing they are an insult and demeaning to the teaching career.
The video clips which are making rounds in the social media often have one or two drunken characters who are present at the duty station and fail to clearly understand the role of the Teachers Council of Malawi.
The teachers argue that the clips are portraying teachers in the country as dull and excessive beer drinkers who are unnecessarily resisting the recent establishment of TCM in the country.
“What do they want to achieve by discussing issues of teachers through drunken characters in such video clips?” wondered one teacher who did not want to be named.
“This is sheer demeaning of our career as if it’s a profession of drunkards. It’s a damn insanity of the highest order. They should have found a better way of convincing teachers to register with them,” echoed another.
And speaking to Nyasa Times on the issue, General Secretary for the Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM), Charles Kumchenga, said it was sad to see such a portrayal of teachers in the social media.
“I don’t think the Teachers Council can sponsor people to be insulting teachers in those video clips. Something is missing and it might not be the aim of the council for those actors to be using such kind of sarcasm. Such productions are coming from their own heads and TCM should tame those actors because teachers are furious with such portrayal,” remarked Kumchenga.
Secondary School Teachers Union (SESTU) General Secretary, Druwen Frank Moyo, said teachers were not comfortable with the picture that the video clips were painting.
“As SESTU, we wholeheartedly welcome TCM. We are aware that TCM is on a sensitisation campaign using several avenues including that of use of video clips circulating in the social media. However, we are not comfortable with the picture some of the video clips are portraying.
“It is our plea to TCM that as they embark on the sensitisation campaign, it would be unfair to use tools or weaponry that in the end goes against the very teachers they are targeting. They should use avenues that respect the teacher out there,” Moyo said.
But one of the producers and actors of the video clips in circulation, Kendall Kamwendo, argues that what they are doing is just acting and there is no intention to demean the teachers.
Said Kamwendo: “we are not trying to portray teachers as drunkards. People should understand that this is just acting and that person takes that character of a drunkard in many of our sketches.
“The paramount reason for featuring that character is to advocate against such behaviours. Remember that with the introduction of these TCM licences, one’s licence will be withdrawn by government if there is evidence of such malpractices.”
The Teachers Council of Malawi was established in 2022 by an Act of Parliament and is set to regulate the teaching profession in Malawi, ensuring high standards and professionalism among educators.
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