Government recruits 2,200 teachers
The government has finalised processes that will lead to 2,200 primary school teachers being recruited.
Secretary for Education Chikondano Mussa has, in a statement which she and her counterpart at the Ministry of Local Government James Chiwa have signed, indicated that the teachers were part of the Initial Primary Teacher Education (IPTE 13) cohort.
Members of the cohort recently attended recruitment interviews, which the Local Government Service Commission conducted in collaboration with ministries of Local Government and Education.
“Names of the successful teachers have already been deployed to councils across the country to start teaching in various schools from today, 4th January 2022. The recruitment of the successful IPTE 13 teachers forms part of efforts by government to expand access, improve quality and motivate teachers for better delivery of education services in the country.
“Government further wishes to reiterate its commitment to keep recruiting teachers to reduce the big teacher-to-learner ratio across all education subsectors. Currently, government is also undertaking processes to recruit up to 2,185 secondary school teachers who should be in schools by February 2022,” the statement reads.
Meanwhile, quality education advocate Benedicto Kondowe has lauded the government for moving fast on teacher recruitment.
“That said, the country still has a deficit of 50,000 teachers and government can start with teachers who were already trained under the IPTE 14 and 15.
“With Covid and Omicron variant of coronavirus in our midst, the need for more teachers cannot be over-emphasised because the only way of sustaining education is by breaking the classes into smaller groups,” he said.
