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Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
ABOUT 3,000 qualified teachers who quit their jobs at the height of the economic meltdown are still stranded after applying for re-employment in the civil service, unions said yesterday.This comes at a time when the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education reported a critical shortage of qualified personnel to fill thousands of vacant posts, especially in rural schools.
Teachers’ union leaders urged the government to rethink its policy on returning teachers saying the process of reinstating them was cumbersome.
A senior education official who requested anonymity said the Civil Service Commission (CSC) had stringent conditions on “prodigal” educators.
“Such teachers are required to apply through their provincial education offices and have finger prints taken before going through a vetting process by the CSC,” said the official.
“It takes between six months and one year to be accepted back into the system on temporary basis and they are only allowed to apply for permanent employment after two years.”
The official said those aged 50 years and above were not allowed to apply for permanent employment.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) chief executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu said the CSC stance on returning teachers was opposed to the spirit of reviving the education system.
“We lost a substantial number of teachers during the economic meltdown. Some resigned officially while some simply absconded and have pending cases,” he told Chronicle.
“It’s good news that some of these teachers want to come back but the regulations employed by the CSC are stringent.”
Ndlovu added, “Their regulations are very rigid and unfriendly to the revival of the education system. As unions we have made attempts to relax the regulations and the education ministry has accepted but the CSC is adamant and maintains that the policy should be followed.”
He could not immediately provide the exact number of teachers seeking re-employment but indicated that around 3,000 might be stranded after only 2,000 out of the 5,000 were reinstated two years ago. Scores of teachers abandoned the profession and sought “greener pastures” in neighbouring countries around 2007 and 2008.
Ndlovu said the few teachers that had been engaged were taken on temporary basis, a development he said “does not attract teachers back into the profession”.
Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) Bulawayo provincial head Vusumuzi Mahlangu concurred saying the goal of empowering schools with qualified teachers would be difficult unless returning teachers were engaged. “Re-joining the government has become difficult for former teachers. It was agreed by unions and government that these teachers should be accepted without any conditions but surprisingly the teachers are being shut out of the system by unreasonable conditions,” he said.
“Most of these are qualified Mathematics and Science teachers and re-employing them would go a long way in addressing the serious shortage of teachers in our schools.”
Mahlangu said employing qualified teachers on contract basis and denying them benefits while reducing them to juniors was counterproductive.
Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Prof Paul Mavhima acknowledged that a number of teachers had applied for re-employment but defended the CSC regulations. “There’s nothing out of the norm. It’s a procees that every employer follows before engaging employees that have left before,” he said.
“Some even left without giving notice and it warrants us to put them through a vetting process before full-time employment. Those who have been downgraded should not complain because it’s normal. They can’t expect us to demote other people for them.”
derick.khumalo