Govt applauds teachers’ heroics

Remember Deketeke, Herald Correspondent

Zimbabwean teachers joined the rest of the world in celebrating and honouring their heroic works.

World Teachers’ Day is a day to take stock of an educator’s contribution to society.

The day is celebrated every year on 5 October in recognition of the work of educators (teachers, researchers and professors) worldwide.

Education Development Trust (EDT) joined the global community in celebrating World Teachers’ Day 2024, embracing the theme, “Valuing teacher voices: Towards a new social contract for education.”

In a press statement, EDT’s Country Director in Zimbabwe, Faith Nkala said they recognised the role played by teachers is shaping the future of education.

“At EDT, we recognise the transformative power of teachers and the critical role they play in shaping the future of education,” reads the statement.

“Creating inclusive, efficient, and student-centred learning environments requires paying attention to and elevating the voices of teachers.”

Director Nkala said this year’s commemorations are timely as they follow the recently launched African Union and UNICEF campaign, End Learning Poverty for All Africa (ELPAF), code-named Can Read, Can Write, Can Count: Foundation4Life.

The campaign implores education stakeholders to take action against learning poverty.

“Our primary goal on the TEACH programme is to enhance literacy and numeracy skills in pupils from Grade 2 through secondary school,” said Nkala.

However, we also recognise the crucial role teachers and school leaders play in achieving this objective. Together with MOPSE we have reached 67 640 teachers and school leaders on improved pedagogy for literacy and numeracy teaching improvement,” said Nkala.

Primary and Secondary Education’s Ministry Advocacy and Communications Director, Mr Taungana Ndoro, applauded teacher professional development initiatives being spearheaded by several education partners.

“These interventions are helping in a big way to continuously empower teachers with teaching strategies to effectively deliver lessons in the classroom,” he said.

“This ensures that no teacher is left behind. The unique interventions by partners such as EDT is that they are using MoPSE’s national and subnational structures. The building of teacher competency for improved learning outcomes is based on the teacher competency framework and is aligned to Zimbabwe Teacher Professional Standards.”

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) spokesperson Mr Moyo Thembakhuye said by valuing teacher voices and investing in their growth, will ensure that every pupil is equipped with foundational skills, unlocking their full potential for future learning.

“As ARTUZ we recognize the pivotal role teachers play in shaping the future of education and the urgent need to incorporate their perspectives into educational policy and decision-making processes as emphasized by this year’s World Teachers’ Day theme,” he said.

“As ARTUZ we intend to promote democratic practices, consultations and collective decisions at the centre. It is our firm conviction that educators are key stakeholders and valuing their voices will successfully lead Zimbabwe towards a new social contract for education.”