Story by Fairstars Mukungurutse
GOVERNMENT’s quest to reduce the teacher-student ratio is on course after Treasury gave the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education the greenlight to recruit the first batch of 4 000 teachers in the first quarter.
Commissioning a learning facility at Southerton Primary School in Harare this Wednesday, the Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Honourable Angeline Gata confirmed that the target is to recruit 8000 teachers this year, with the ultimate goal being to reduce the teacher-student ratio to at least 1:20.
“We are very grateful to Treasury and the Public Service Commission, who have given us the greenlight that in the first quarter of the year, we will have 4 000 teachers as per plan.
“We submit our documents to the Public Service Commission, indicating where we need teachers and for which subjects. The hiring and payment of these teachers will be left with the Ministry of Public Service and the Ministry of Finance, they will communicate. We have submitted our papers, and we just await the commencement of the hiring process,” Honourable Gata said.
The government is also behind the construction of modern infrastructure and upgrading schools in a bid to ensure a conducive learning environment.
“As schools expand, this will help children to have adequate safe spaces to learn in. It also enables us to deliver quality education and improve the health, and safety of our children. This is also in line with the NDS1 and His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vision of an upper-middle-income economy.
“We commend what Southerton Primary School has done through the school development committee and parents involved. As a government, we have a budget to construct schools through the Treasury and CDF, and we also work together with partners through public-private partnerships to develop schools’ infrastructure,” Honourable Gata stated.
The new block at Southerton Primary School has five interactive classrooms, amid a deliberate effort to embrace information communication technologies.
“In line with the NDS1, we have incorporated ICTs in the teaching and learning process. The new block is ICT compliant as we recently purchased eight projectors and eight projector screens together with interactive boards to bridge the technology gap,” Southerton Primary School Head, Mr Akim Chiura noted.
The commissioned classroom block was made possible through collaborative efforts by the School Development Committee and parents.
