Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is happy with the government’s resolve to recruit 30,000 teachers, as indicated in the 2022 national budget.
In a statement to ZANIS, ZANEC Executive Director George Hamusunga says the move will help improve the teacher-pupil contact time and eventually advance learning outcomes.
Mr. Hamusunga is expectant that the recruitment will be done in the first quarter of 2022.
He said his organization will closely monitor the recruitment process, to ascertain whether the said teachers will be deployed to places where they are required the most.
Mr. Hamusunga called for equitable recruitment and deployment of teachers, across early childhood education, primary and secondary education.
The ZANEC Head is hopeful that government will sort out any challenges that may arise from the payroll, following the recruitment.
“Our hope is that government will remove the constraints posed by the Payroll Management and Establishment Control (PMEC) system in taking teachers where they are required the most. We also hope to see the equitable recruitment and deployment of teachers across early childhood education, primary and secondary education,” Mr Hamusunga said.
And Mr. Hamusunga says the decision to make education free at the secondary level is highly commendable.
“The abolishment of tuition fees, Parent and Teachers Association (PTA) fees, and examination fees at secondary school level is also a step in the right direction as it will significantly reduce the high school drop-out rates that have been recorded in the past as learners’ transition from primary to the secondary school level,” he said.
Mr. Hamusunga however expressed disappointment with the reduced share of the education sector budget from 11.5 percent in 2021, to 10.46 percent in 2022.
The government has allocated 18.1billion kwacha out of the 173 billion 2022 national budget to the education sector.
