Ministry consults on teaching council

Tinomuda Chakanyuka, Senior Reporter
THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education will this week start engaging stakeholders on the Teaching Profession Council draft Bill, which will operationalise the Teaching Profession Council (TPC), a professional board for educators in the country.

TPC is a professional body that is expected to regulate the operations and conduct of teachers in line with the new curriculum.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango told Sunday News that teams would be dispatched to all the country’s 10 provinces to engage stakeholders, among them teachers and parents.

She said the consultations were expected to start this week.

“The draft bill is now out and the next step is for us to go back to stakeholders to solicit their views and input on the draft. We expect to start the consultations next week, moving from province to province. After getting the views of our stakeholders, we will incorporate those views into the draft before coming up with a final draft,” she said.

Dr Utete-Masango said after consultations and coming up with the final draft bill, the document will be tabled before Cabinet first before being taken to Parliament.

“The Bill has to go through the Attorney General’s office, going through various stages including Cabinet, then Parliament,” she said.

Dr Utete-Masango said a working party set up to spearhead the establishment of the council visited Zambia where a similar board was set up recently.