“One of my pupils, aged 9, had already left for Kayes, 750 km from our village, to work in a gold mine, because of his family's economic situation. His father told me that if I could go to Kayes, he would allow his son to return to school. I borrowed money from my brothers (22,000 CFA francs, or 33 euros) to pay for the bus journey to Kayes. The boy was ready to go back to school. Today, he’s doing very well at school. I did this because these days, if you’re not educated, you’ve got nothing.” This testimony from Tiecoura Bagayoko, a 58-year-old Malian teacher at Faradje Bamaro school, is an inspiring example of the commitment and key role played by teachers and their unions through various projects to ensure that children go to and stay in school, not at work.
The global union federation representing educators worldwide has brought financial support using its Solidarity Fund to help students, teachers and education support personnel severely affected by devastation caused by tropical Cyclone Freddy in Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique.
Education International member organisations in Malawi, the Teachers' Union of Malawi (TUM) and the Private Schools Employees Union of Malawi (PSEUM), were able to bring over 1,000 children back to school and prevent 1,200 others from dropping out.
As days are getting closer for civil servants to start their planned nationwide strike next week Monday, the Physician Assistants Union of Malawi (PAUM) have pl