adminSenior Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) needs to seriously consider training teachers for students with special needs in order to help alleviate the current shortage of special education teachers, a Government Minister has said. In his keynote address during a tour of the ZOU regional premises in Mutare on Wednesday, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Deputy Minister, Dr Godfrey Gandawa, urged the institution of distance education to help in reducing the shortage of special education teachers.
Dr Gandawa said the number of special education teachers being churned out at United College in Bulawayo was not enough to cater for the ever increasing number of pupils in need of special education teachers.
“Take special education seriously. We now have kids that are being turned away even at ECD level simply because the schools do not have special education teachers.
“The teachers that we have in our schools have undergone the normal teacher training process, but we have a shortage of teachers who know how to handle children with special needs.
“The number of special education teachers being churned out at United College in Bulawayo is not enough to cater for the ever increasing number of pupils in need of special education teachers. There is a niche.
“The country needs teachers who can handle students with special needs,” he said.
The Magunje legislator also urged tertiary institutions to come up with tangible, practical and implementable projects if the economic blueprint Zim-Asset is to succeed.
“We the tertiary institutions have the expertise and it should start with us. We have to craft tangible, practical and implementable projects if the economic blueprint, Zim-Asset is to succeed.
“We are tired of workshops. As a nation, it is high time we move away from talk shows and start working on tangible projects that help improve our livelihoods.
“For as long as we do not have tangible, practical and implementable projects, Zim-Asset will not succeed. It should start with institutions of higher learning. We are saying research should lead into something tangible. In other words, we want to see an air conditioning system that we will all say has been fashioned and produced by ZOU,” he added.
The Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Deputy Minister, who is on a whirlwind tour of all the ten ZOU regional institutions, was accompanied by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Primrose Kurasha and several high ranking ZOU officials.
Online Reporter