Government completes payment of salary arrears for over 30,000 newly recruited teachers

The government has announced that it has successfully completed the payment of salary arrears for over 30,000 teachers who were recruited last year and were not yet on the payroll. Education Minister Douglas Siakalima stated that by December 2022, the Ministry of Finance had released the necessary funds to clear the salary arrears for some teachers who had gone without pay for three months after reporting for work in their respective stations.

In an interview with Phoenix News, Mr. Siakalima acknowledged that the delay in paying some teachers was not intentional, but rather the result of some newly recruited teachers not having submitted all the required documents, including their bank details, for the government to initiate the payments.

In November of last year, some newly recruited teachers threatened to go on strike due to the government’s failure to pay them their three months’ salary arrears, despite having already started work and submitted all the necessary details through the various district education boards offices where they were deployed.

The government has expressed its appreciation for the role that teachers play in shaping its citizens and is glad to have resolved this issue. Education Minister Douglas Siakalima urges all teachers to ensure that they submit all the required documents promptly to avoid any delays in their payments in the future.