Shortage of teachers, Zim lifts ban on temporary teacher recruitment

Government has lifted the ban on temporary teacher recruitment across the country in a bid to fill 13 000 vacant posts.

Deputy Minister for Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Lazarus Dokora yesterday confirmed the development saying the recruitment began last Friday.

"We have a short fall of between 12 000 and 13 000 teachers across the country, hence we have to recruit temporary teachers to off-set the shortage," he said.

Dokora described temporary teachers as crucial to the education sector, as there are not enough trained teachers to meet requirements.

Last month, the Deputy Public Service Minister Andrew Langa admitted the country still faced a shortage of teachers and needs to recruit more to fill vacant posts, especially in rural schools.

Last year, the Government had frozen recruitment of temporary teachers, and also barred qualified teachers from going on leave.

The proliferation of private schools that offer better remuneration has also resulted in continued loss of qualified teachers from the public sector.

There was also confusion over the intended dismissal of over 1 000 teachers who had left the public service then returned under an amnesty extended by the State.

The Government has since regularised their employment following the intervention of teachers' unions.

Many teachers left the civil service alongside other professionals at the height of Zimbabwe's economic downturn leaving schools severely understaffed. Some of them returned following the introduction of the multiple-currency regime.

The Public Service ministry is alleged to have threatened the returning teachers with dismissal on the grounds that their reengagement was not procedural.

Zimbabwe currently employs about 97 000 teachers against a demand of 111 000.

Meanwhile, the Government will this year introduce a retraining programme for all the teachers in the country so that they keep up with trends in the profession.