Recruitment of 3 000 teachers authorised

By Tendai Kamhungira

Treasury has authorised the recruitment of at least 3 000 teachers in a bid to improve the teacher-to-pupil ratio which impacts on the quality of education in schools.

Government has not been recruiting teachers since 2015 after the then Public Service Commission announced that recruitment and promotions in the civil service had been frozen as part of a staff rationalisation exercise.

But on Wednesday last week, the ministry of Primary and Secondary Education announced that government would be recruiting teachers to fill vacant posts throughout the country.

“The ministry of Primary and Secondary Education will be carrying out a registration exercise for prospective teachers who will possibly fill limited vacancies that are available for the 2019 financial year.

“Prospective candidates can register at their nearest District Education Office from 2 January 2019 to 3 January 2019,” read the notice issued by the permanent secretary in the ministry, Tumisang Thabela.

Writing on his microblogging site, Twitter, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said not only had Treasury authorised the recruitment of the teachers, but had also approved the employment of university teaching staff.

“Treasury has authorised the recruitment of 3000 additional teachers in Zimbabwe in order to ease teacher shortage. Treasury has also authorised recruitment of about 350 university teaching staff and personnel to bolster university capacity. Key to improving service delivery,” Ncube said.

According to authorities, the teacher recruitment exercise is expected to play a big part in reducing the teacher-to-pupil ratio, which had scaled up as high as 1:50 at some schools.

The exercise is also expected to improve the staffing levels in most remote areas, which include Matabeleland and Masvingo Provinces.

It is also in line with the country’s economic blueprint, the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), which gives prominence to the human development agenda and education is a key factor in this respect. DailyNews