The Private Schools Teachers Union in Mzuzu has complained that some private school owners do not prioritise pension schemes on teachers’ welfare.

As a result of no pension schemes, retired teachers suffer from poverty as school owners do not put them on pension schemes. Earlier this year, the Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM) urged its members to comply with the Pension Act (2010). In a statement released ECAM is encouraging all its members to provide the updated information in the prescribed format by the Registrar of Financial Institutions.

On the other hand, Independent Schools Association of Malawi President, Joseph Patel, said private school owners are aware of the pension scheme but said some schools’ directors fail to comply because they are no longer doing business to meet the requirements.

In April, the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) warned that all employers who have been hoarding pension funds of their workers that they will be taken to court this year. The warning follows an accumulating total of non-remitted pension funds, estimated at over K7 billion, by then.