'PhDs not required for school heads'

A Doctor of Philosophy degree is not a mandatory requirement for school head positions, the Government has confirmed, and there have been no changes to the teachers' required qualifications.

This clarification comes in the wake of controversy surrounding a misinterpretation of the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Torerai Moyo's remarks, when he was encouraging teachers and heads to continually pursue higher qualifications.

Speaking to The Herald yesterday, Minister Moyo clarified that there were no new requirements on qualifications for school heads.

"I never said that for you to be a headmaster, you need to have a PhD," Minister Moyo said.

"People misinterpreted the message that I gave to the headmasters."

Minister Moyo stressed that while he encouraged teachers to pursue higher qualifications, it was not mandatory for them to have a PhD in order to be a school head.

"We were in Bulawayo last week, and my message to teachers and headmasters was that they needed to upgrade their qualifications. I told them that there was a time when holders of ZJC and O' Levels were teaching without teaching qualifications, and I motivated teachers and headmasters that they needed to upgrade their qualifications.

"If they have diplomas, they can have a first degree; if they have masters, they can have a PhD. That was the message."

In the past, people with only a Standard 6 education could be teachers, but the requirements have continued to evolve over time.

A ZJC was eventually required, and the qualifications have continued to become more rigorous in recent years.

As universities continue to produce graduates with increasingly higher qualifications, it is possible that in the future a diploma may not be sufficient to teach.

The requirements for teaching may continue to evolve as the educational standards of society change.