Cash strapped Government to hire 10 000 teachers- Dokora

Government is in the process of hiring close to 10 000 additional teachers.

The new recruits would be posted in rural areas to ease current shortage of qualified teachers in the country,  Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora, told Parliament on Wednesday.

Currently, about 120 000 teachers are employed against a required 130 000.

Dokora said the cash strapped government is in a position to pay the extra teachers.

"The directive was given at the beginning of the second term. That is when we were told that we are supposed to recruit teachers and headmasters. From that period, we were working hard on the recruitment of teachers so that these teachers would be deployed in resettlement areas, rural areas and other areas that have teacher shortages," said  Dokora.

Dokora said whenever discussions for recruitment of staff are held, the Government takes into consideration that those who would have been hired should be paid.

"There was a time towards the end of last year when we were told of ghost teachers who were said to be in my Ministry. To avoid getting into the same problem, there should be concurrence between my Ministry, Treasury and the Public Service Commission," he said