In a high-profile meeting on Thursday September 21st, the Ministry of Education convened with representatives from the IPTE 13 and 14 teachers’ associations to address a growing controversy surrounding a leaked letter detailing their grievances.

The Principal Secretary for Basic Education madam Rachel Chimbwete Boti Phiri provided clarity on the distribution of the substantial budget.

“The budget was for both primary and secondary school teacher recruitment. We have meticulously divided the funds accordingly and dispatched them to the respective councils responsible for teacher recruitment. A significant number of councils have already initiated the recruitment process, while others are in the pipeline.” She articulated.

She further disclosed that the recruitment process would be sequenced to first cater to IPTE 13 and subsequently address the concerns of IPTE 14.

Blessing Ngundadzuwa, the spokesperson for IPTE 13 and 14 teachers, expressed satisfaction with the ministry’s handling of their grievances during the meeting.

“The enigma of the 8.9 Billion Kwacha has finally been unraveled. Due to decentralization, it was designated for allocation to our district councils tasked with teacher recruitment,” clarified Ngundadzuwa.

Interestingly, Ngundadzuwa distanced their association from the leaked letter, asserting that its contents closely mirrored what they had been drafting independently.

Promising a transparent and corruption-free recruitment process, the Principal Secretary assured all stakeholders that stringent measures would be in place to guarantee the smooth execution of the teacher recruitment initiative.