‘Govt to up funding for teachers’ houses’

Education Minister John Phiri said in an interview that Government was committed to addressing the problem.
Dr Phiri said that the problem of accommodation was one that Government was aware of and that work would commence to improve the housing units soon after the 2014 National Budget had been approved by Parliament.
He said the previous government made a huge mistake by concentrating on building more schools and neglecting the importance of ensuring quality provision of teachers’ housing units.
“This was a major problem because more schools were built without considering where the employed teachers in respective schools would be accommodated.
“Therefore, we hope to see the problem corrected, although the resources are limited at the time,” he said.
The minister said the problem of accommodation was more serious in rural areas but less pressing in urban areas where there were more teachers’ housing units.