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Minister Lazarus Dokora

The decision by Government to recruit at least 10 000 teachers in 2017 to improve the teacher-pupil ratio is a very welcome development. Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora said Treasury had given the Civil Service Commission permission to recruit the 10 000 teachers when schools open next month.

The vacancies arose mainly from the introduction of early childhood development. Government intends to engage 5 800 new ECD teachers while about 500 other teachers will fill vacant posts at primary schools. More than 700 teachers will fill vacant posts at secondary schools.

Minister Dokora said qualified ECD teachers were on demand following the expansion of lower level education since 2013 and the introduction of the new curriculum. He said about 4 000 qualified teachers and university graduates who majored in non-teaching disciplines were teaching more than 400 000 ECD pupils. The lifting of recruitment freeze on teachers will drastically reduce the number of qualified teachers that are out of employment.

Teachers colleges are churning out thousands of teachers every year and many of these could not be absorbed by the Public Service because of the freeze. A number were therefore forced to seek employment in neighbouring countries such as Botswana, South Africa and Namibia.

What is, however, working against these newly qualified teachers is that some of the countries prefer experienced teachers. The unemployed teachers who have remained in the country had to resort to offering private lessons to pupils but again the challenge is that parents prefer teachers with many years of experience to provide extra lessons to their children. What is sad is that while these qualified teachers are out of employment, a number of schools especially in remote areas such as Binga and Gokwe districts are facing critical shortage of teachers.

At one time a primary school in Hwange District was forced to close its doors after the only teacher at the school left. It is such schools that Government should give priority when it recruits the 10 000 teachers.

Schools that are operating with skeleton staff are compromising the quality of education and the situation should be urgently addressed. Government should avoid a situation whereby a teacher takes more than one class at primary school.

Government has since independence made great strides in building both primary and secondary schools in line with its policy that pupils should be within a walking distance of the nearest school. It is only in resettlement areas where pupils are still walking long distances to school and in some areas pupils are using makeshift structures as classrooms.

Zimbabwe has a deficit of 1 252 primary and 804 seconary schools and in order to speed up  construction of schools, Government has, with effect from next year, introduced the National School Building Fund to be administered separately from development levies and tuition fees.

This will see Government partnering with the private sector in building schools. We want at this juncture to commend Government for its commitment to improve the quality of education by improving the teacher-pupil ratio.