Malawian police fire tear gas at schoolchildren protesting over teachers without pay Police fired tear gas at hundreds of Malawian schoolchildren as young as six after they took to the streets of the commercial capital, Blantyre, on Wednesday to protest at six-month delays in paying their teachers. Chanting "We're not learning! We're not learning!," the pupils closed roads with tree branches, rocks and boulders and pelted several schools and passing cars with stones, police said, damaging 40 vehicles and smashing classroom windows. Police responded with tear gas, but said no one was injured. "These were just kids, police had to use minimum force," said spokesman Dave Chingwalu. The protest followed strike action by around 1,000 of the estimated 6,000 teachers in the former British protectorate who have not been paid since May and comes shortly before many students are due to sit crucial exams. "We want the President to know we are angry," said one pupil. He must pay our teachers so that we go back to class. "Please tell Peter on our behalf to do his best to pay our teachers so that they resume teaching us," said 11-year-old Vera, who declined to give her last name. We also want to be leaders in future. They should not kill our future. Mr Mutharika's government is reported to have recruited as many as 10,000 new teachers since May to fill a massive shortfall. A spokesman for the Department of Education said a "cumbersome" payroll system was to blame for the delays. But analysts have suggested the government could be struggling to meet salary obligations because of a deficit left by the "cashgate" corruption scandal uncovered during Mrs Banda's tenure, which saw at least $30m government funds siphoned off by corrupt officials, prompting donors including Britain to freeze aid funding.