This concern comes after the government released a list of
3 816 educators recruited by the Public Service Commission (PSC) to serve in
the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
But some unemployed teachers said the online system
disadvantaged those who had graduated earlier, as their details were not
captured.
“I graduated from
the United College of Education in 2019 with a Diploma in Education
specialising in Early Child Development. I registered in December when
registration opened and all those who I registered with have been employed
including applicants who graduated later than me yet my name should be on the
system,” said one of the aggrieved unemployed teachers.
“I have been to the education office in Bulawayo, travelled
all the way to Maphisa in Matobo and Plumtree to register but we are always
told to come register and update our details.”
Before the online system was introduced, unemployed
teachers would submit their certification documents at their respective
district or provincial education offices.
“The employment was between you and the officer and it ran
smoothly. Now, although we register all the time our names are not on the
database. Then you are advised to register again yet resources don’t always
permit,” said an unemployed teacher who queried why the computerised
recruitment system had gaps.
“The system should be set in a manner that advantages the
one whose details are already captured and also look at when one completed
their training. Sometimes the system even lists applicants’ names twice or
thrice or in separate listings.”
The unemployed teachers lamented that due to lack of
teaching jobs, some had left for South Africa while others ventured into
small-scale mining or became ZUPCO bus conductors.
“My young brother is also a qualified teacher but is now
into gold mining in Esigodini. Some teachers have joined ZUPCO as conductors.
There are no jobs and we are suffering yet we are trained,” said another
affected teacher.
“Before, the government used to employ untrained teachers
and those with no mathematics then there was a requirement that every teacher
must have maths. Teachers complied and are now qualified but still have no
jobs.”
In an interview with CITE, Director of Communications and
Advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Taungana Ndoro,
said there were a number of fundamentals that were factored so it was unfair to
criticise the recruitment system.
“Did these
teachers do the same subjects, did they ask to be deployed in the same area,
which districts or provinces did they sign for. All these are factors that come
into play,” he noted.
Ndoro underpinned that the government could not hire all
the unemployed teachers as there were few vacancies.
“You must investigate how many vacancies we have and the
number of unemployed teachers. There are
about 20 000 to 30 000 unemployed teachers out there yet the ministry only has
3 000 vacancies, how do you expect us to take them all?” he asked.
“What if the ‘lucky ones’ also applied several times
before. As I said there are fundamentals that are considered when applicants
apply. Those who apply should not despair; their turn will come and will be
taken if they are still interested. ”
Ndoro added unemployed teachers should not feel entitled
because they had registered earlier.
“This time we
only took about 4 000 teachers and we will try to please all the unemployed
teachers but subject to funds from the Treasury and teaching vacancies
available,” he said.
Ndoro noted the online system was centralised at the head
office and managed jointly by the PSC.
“We have a committee that sits with officials from the
Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare,” Ndoro said, adding it
was “very unlikely” that it could be manipulated.
He, however, noted machines were run by humans and
sometimes they were fallible.
“We put in systems to regularise processes but the opposite
happens, for example, look at those who smuggle, they go through borders where
systems are in place to prevent smuggling but omalayitsha (cross border
traders) manage to smuggle foods. Although our teacher recruitment system is computerised, we can’t
say it is foolproof but there are measures put in place to make it run well.”
This is not the first time the government’s centralised
e-application system has been criticised.
In 2020, ZAPU and other local activists voiced their
displeasure after it emerged that the bulk of trainee nurses recruited at
training institutions in Matabeleland were dominated by non-locals.
The government said trainee nurses were selected via the
online system but activists said there was evidence of discrimination against
locals. Citezw
0 comments:
Post a Comment