THE recruitment of more than 1200 teachers by the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) has not elated the National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ), Executive Director Aaron Chansa has said.
Speaking in an interview, Mr. Chansa said that after failing to recruit teachers for the past two years and having more than 58, 000 unemployed teachers, it is very sad to see the Commission only employing 1200 new teachers.
He said that the number is extremely insignificant and almost inconsequential adding that at a time when the Ministry is losing more than 6500 Teachers per year due to deaths, retirements and resignations, celebrating this recruitment would be insensitive to the serious shortages of teachers in the country, especially in rural areas.
He explained that when the sector requires more than 45,000 teachers, recruiting 1200 cannot be good by any measure.
“Going forward, the Ministry will require to have at least 10,000 new teachers per year.
“Statistically and seriously speaking, the latest recruitment will insignificantly improve the acute pupil-teacher ratios that are obtaining in most schools in the country. Instead, this exercise has left more than 56,000 unemployed teachers more dejected, disoriented and frustrated.
“We now get comforted by the assurance from Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane, the new Minister of Finance, that the 2022 national budget will have healthy funds for teacher recruitment and other issues which have afflicted teachers and learners for many years,” he said.