Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Paul Mavima, told recent World Teachers Day commemorations in the capital that this initiative would go a long way to improve educational standards and implored teacher unions to play a pivotal role in ensuring that teachers stick to guidelines governing their profession.
“Teacher trade unions need to help us flush out embezzlement, improper association, insubordination, abscondment and absenteeism among their members.
“Only then will they be taken seriously by other partners in education. In this vein, we should seriously consider the formation of a Teaching Professions Council, a body that can offer professional self-regulation and foster the highest levels of ethical conduct,” said Mavima.
He said government would make efforts to ensure that the new Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council Board had adequate representation for teachers.
“As a Ministry, we are alive to the need to offer training and career development programmes for serving teachers and for the development of schemes for recognizing excellent service. Adequate support needs to be given to female members of the profession to ensure gender balance in career advancement.
“Recruitment and training services should address the high pupil teacher ratio in this country so that there is an improvement of service delivery,” said Mavima.
Post published in: News