Primary and Secondary Education Minister Ambassador Cain Mathema has confirmed that the government is set to recruit about 20 000 qualified but untrained teachers in line with a directive from President Mnangagwa.
The 15 000 to 20 000 recruits will be on top of the 5 300 already in place. The increased number of classes will enable schools to run smaller classes and minimise the risk of a spike in Covid-19 infections.
The newly employed join more than 80 per cent active personnel that are reporting for duty normally following the recent salary agreement between civil service unions and the Government.
Ambassador Mathema said;
President Mnangagwa directed that we should employ all qualified teachers and we have started that process with our ministry, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
WHO (World Health Organisation) and the Ministry of Health requires us to reduce the number of learners in a classroom to minimise the risk of spreading the virus.
We have recruited more teachers so that we break our classes into smaller numbers and we are working on recruiting more.
Minister Mathema said his ministry, with the technical support from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, had done well in response to the pandemic but said those not observing public health protocols were a worry.
Mathema said they suspect coronavirus cases in schools are coming from home, with parents and guardians who are not properly wearing their masks.
There have been recent spikes in the number of COVID cases in schools with Jonh Tallach and Chinhoyi High, Matopo High and Prince Edward among the schools reporting cases.