Concern over Staffing Levels in Schools

The Standard
By EDGAR GWESHE
5 April 2009

STAFFING levels in the country’s education sector remain low despite a government directive that teachers who had left the profession should be reinstated to curtail staff shortages, The Standard has learnt.
The government in February issued a directive that teachers who had left the profession between January 2007 and March 2009 could be reinstated in their respective stations.

However teachers’ representative bodies last week said that despite the directive some schools still experienced serious staff shortages.

Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) secretary-general Richard Gundani said 35% of the posts in primary schools across the country were still vacant, while in secondary schools the figure was 33%.

“There have been quite a number of hiccups in the reinstatement of teachers who had left the profession.
The interpretation of the policy document is being misunderstood by some education authorities who seem to be vindictive on teachers,” Gundani said.

He, however, said the most affected schools were in Matabeleland, which shares borders with South Africa and Botswana.

“In provinces like Matabeleland South and North, there are still some schools where you can only find a school head and a few remaining teachers,” he said.

The Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) estimates that an average of four teachers at each school left the profession in 2008, translating to about 30 000 teachers countrywide.

Zimbabwe has lost close to 70 000 teachers in the past years creating a huge teacher deficit.

The Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture says that a third of vacant posts still remain unfilled.

Senator David Coltart, the Minister of Education, said there was a “huge staff deficit” and he had received reports the reinstatement process was being frustrated.

“We continue to receive reports that the process is being frustrated and I am taking measures to make sure the process is respectable,” he said.

Coltart vowed to take action against “unruly elements” bent on retarding progress on the reinstatement of teachers.

Gundani said Zimta had asked the Ministry of Education to repeal a section in the policy document on reinstatement that says teachers will be readmitted initially for a period of one year after which an assessment will be carried out to determine their full reinstatement.

“We had to challenge that section because we feel it will not attract teachers back into the country, the conditions for readmission should not be so stringent,” Gundani said.

The PTUZ programmes and communication officer, Oswald Madziva, said many teachers who had applied for reinstatement were still waiting for approval.

“The process is too centralised and quite a number of teachers who had applied for readmission are still waiting to get a confirmation from the ministry,” he said.

Madziva also said some headmasters, and provincial and district education officers were frustrating the reinstatement of teachers.

“We had a case at Morgan High School, where a teacher was supposed to come through an amnesty but the head went on to abolish the subject (Office Practice) from the curriculum. The problem seems to be that some school heads are taking advantage of the situation to settle personal scores with teachers.”