Govt to recruit 5 000 teachers

Harare (New Ziana) – Government is set to recruit at least 5 000 more teachers by mid-year to address shortages which has seen the teacher to pupil ratio go up in schools, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prof Paul Mavima has said.

Mavima told Parliament that the Ministry was granted authority to recruit 5 000 teachers this year, though the teaching staff requirement was actually higher.

“You will also realise that even as late as Sunday, an additional 1 600 teachers were recruited and the Ministry has concurrence of Treasury to recruit a total of about 5 000 more teachers up to June,” he said.

“This is not just done in order to avert the adverse effects of these suspensions which are by the way being reviewed. Some of these people will be reinstated. It is also in order to just address the shortages that have already been there in the teaching field,” he said.

He said the recruitment of teachers was also meant to reduce the number of learners in one classroom in compliance with the World Health Organisation guidelines on COVID-19.

“In addition also, the fact that requirements for COVID-19 say classes should be smaller, therefore we need more teachers,” Mavima said.

He added: “In fact, initially the Ministry had asked for about 50 thousand more teachers according to the requirements of COVID-19. That is not practical, given the numbers of trained teachers that we have but also looking at the budget, everything is being done in order to make sure that our education standards remain high and we have adequate teachers for our learners”.

New Ziana