Unemployed teachers petition PM
… discontented over selection process
Agroup of unemployed teachers yesterday petitionedPrimeMinister Saara Kuugongelwa- Amadhila, expressing dissatisfaction with the selection process for vacant teaching positions.
In the petition yesterday handed to the spokesperson in the Office of the Prime Minister, Saima Shaanika, the group’s representative, Fransina Shikomba, requested the ministry of education to abolish the teacher’s interviews process, saying that is a waste of money for transport.
“For instance, one post can attract more than 400 applicants and all the 400 candidates will end up competing for that one post through written interviews. This is a waste of transport money for many of us who are already unemployed,” Shikomba said in the petition.
“Then there is the coronavirus, thus we are risking our lives and that of our families. Some of our relatives got retrenched and we are struggling to get money for interviews. Implementation of placement and appointment for qualified teachers should take place instead of interviews,” she added.
The aggrieved teachers also called for all junior primary teaching posts occupied by unqualified teachers to be given to unemployed qualified teachers.
“Life skills posts requiring working experiences must be abolished. The medium of
instruction should be reviewed and changed to English because it’s restricting unemployed graduates from applying to other regions, for example, graduates from Zambezi are limited to only look for work in Zambezi,” she added.
She also stressed that temporary posts be given only to qualified teachers.
“Recruitment should be done by HR and evaluated critically at headquarters not by schools because in some cases they might withhold application forms and claim that no one is qualified,” said Shikomba in the statement.
The group also complained about the appointment of grade 12 certificate holders and those
who completed different fields of studies at tertiary institutions other than education, thus taking up vacancies for the secondary phase on a temporary basis, saying that such practices must be abolished.
“These posts must be given to qualified teachers regardless of the phase they did because they are trained as teachers and are well-equipped because they have the knowledge of what a quality lesson plan is and they have a full knowledge for implementation of evaluation and assessment,” the petition reads.
“Unemployed lower and upper primary teachers should be appointed to teach at the secondary phase and given the chance to study further in that field instead of giving vacancies to candidates without teaching qualifications,” the petition further demanded.
The petitioning teachers further shot down claims that unemployed graduate teachers do not apply for posts at remote areas, saying that those with evidence of such claims should present it.
“If 400 graduates can show up for one teaching post it is highly unlikely that they can refuse an offer to apply and go teach at a remote school. If something of that nature occurred, proof should be provided,” Shikomba said.
The petitioners further called for control of new institutions offering educational qualifications saying that these institutions only add to the number of unemployed graduates.
“There should be a uniform minimum requirement to study education. For example, Unam and Namcol do not have the same entry requirements but all are or were offering a diploma in junior primary education,” Shikomba said.
“Vacancies are also advertised backdoor and through WhatsApp statuses and messages in some regions such as Khomas, // Kharas, Omaheke, Kunene and Hardap. Moreover, in most cases the teachers that are appointed through this manner are not qualified,” she claimed.
According to Shikomba, these practices need to stop and all vacancies should be advertised in the correct way through the official notice board and with valid date stamps.