A group of unemployed teachers under the Unemployed Teachers Association of Zimbabwe (UTAZ) banner, has called on the government to create vacancies within government schools saying the escalation of the teacher to pupil ration, which is believed to stand at 1:80, is worrying.
Speaking on sidelines of the demonstration in Harare today, organizing secretary of UTAZ, Brian Dondo said, they have petitioned the government to create jobs by Monday 18 July to rescue the situation in schools.
“I once heard Professor Paul Mavhima (Minister of Primary and Secondary Education) saying, a regulated setup should have,1:25 or 1:35 teacher to pupil ratio, but if you go around schools, the ratio has ballooned to 80 pupils per teacher.
“This is why, us, as UTAZ are expecting the government to have all teaching degrees stashed in government refrigerators to be defrozen and put to use by Monday,” said Dondo.
He also queried the reason why the government continues training more teachers when there are not enough jobs to accommodate those who have graduated already.
“If the government knows there are not enough jobs for teachers why do they keep recruiting each year? where do they want to put them?” queried Dondo.
Zimbabwe has one of the highest unemployment rates in Africa with estimated figures standing at 87%.
Each year, more than 20 000 students graduate from various tertiary education institutions with a vast majority ending up being employed in the informal sector.
Consequently, the country has lost a considerable number of skilled and qualified personnel who have gone into the diaspora in search of greener pastures.