45 AGE LIMIT FOR TEACHING VACANCIES UNFAIR

Dear Editor, THE Ministry of Education through the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) recently issued a statement that all teachers above 45 years will be disqualified from the cur rent recruitment exercise.

This is unfair and discriminatory.

The government has not employed teachers for quite some time due to the employment freeze which was imposed some time back. The employment freeze which Zambia went through deprived many people of employment opportunities in various sectors. The teachers have not been spared either.

It is not the fault of the teachers who are above 45 years not to be employed up to this time. These teachers deserve to be employed under any circumstance. It is true to mention here that more than 100, 000 applicants applied for 30, 000 teach ing vacancies.

However, the criteria for the recruitment of teachers regard ing the age limit should have been disclosed at the time the advertisement was placed in the print media, the newspapers.

Not too long ago, Colonel Panji Kaunda, aged 75, the oldest son of the first republican President was recently appointed as High Commissioner to Malawi.

He has been employed by the same new dawn administra tion which has put the age limit of 45 years for one to be em ployed as a teacher.

To wrap it up, disqualifying teachers above the age of 45 from the current recruitment exercise is not fair and it is tanta mount to discrimination.

The applicants for the teaching jobs have families to look after and some financial obligations to meet. The Ministry of Education through the TSC should rescind its decision of re stricting the age limit to 45 years.