The Professional Teachers Union of Zambia (PROTUZ) has called on the Ministry of General Education to scrutinize the marital status of teachers requesting to be transferred from one school to another.
Speaking in an interview with ZANIS today, PROTUZ Public Relations Officer Matthews Nkhata said that in as much as transfers can have positive impacts in the education sectors, it has a lot of negative effects on the family setup if not handled very well.
Mr. Nkhata says delivery of service from the teacher who has left been separated from family and the spouse due to a transfer can also be affected as they might not fully concentrate in their teaching.
“The transfer of married couples separately tends to lead to the breaking of the family, lack of total concentration when conducting lessons and the breeding of extra-marital affairs even with school going children, “ he said.
He has since appealed to the ministry of general education to critically consider the aspect of family setup before transferring a teacher from one town to another.
Mr. Nkhata explained that his organisations is not against the transfer of teachers but places emphasis on government conducting the transfers according to the stipulated conditions of service and in a better way.
He stated that it is important for government to consider aspects such as the marital status of the teachers, accommodation facilities and also government conducting transparent transfers unlike those spear headed by school administration not being in good books with certain teachers.
Mr. Nkhata added that it is also important that government ensures the provision of certain conditions of service on transferred teachers such as the provision of settling allowances and decent accommodation as it is important in the performance of any individual.
Last government through announced that 2018 will see massive transfers of teachers across the country.
Dr. Wanchinga explained that the transfer of teachers from one town to the other would be aimed at reducing residence monotony for teachers that have overstayed in one part of the country.
Valid argument from the union. Putting families asunder has negative effects on teachers’ output, and productive workforce is depleted through ravaging of HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Hope the govt will listen to the cry and reverse the trend.
Good points by Mr Nkhata and the union
I for one was even planning to divorce her next month, ifyabupuba.
These senseless and politically motivated transfers has negatively affected the peformance of civil service too. Because spouses can not transfer their jobs too, families are living in forced separation. Civil servants are therefore spending most of their working time on Mondays and Fridays on the road as they travel to join their families for the weekend often times using govt vehicles and fuel. Some of these transfers have been made to create positions in strategic offices for user-friendly political cadres. Many others are malicious transfers for political expediency. The loser is government and the civil service and the PF cadre secretary to cabinet can not see this. Shame!
Very good points raise; we need to protect and fight our families because they devil is tearing our families and societies apart. During the Kaunda era marriage was given first consideration before they could think of a transfer. God bless Zambia!
For the fisrt time Mr Nkhata you have made a valid point!
Keep it up,excellent!