Zimbabwe: Ministry Fails to Recruit 5,000 New Teachers – According to Budget Eroded by Inflation

The government failed to recruit 5,000 new teachers after the budget allocation to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education was eroded by inflation, Parliament heard this week.

Zimbabwe’s official inflation is currently one of the highest in the world at over 200% while the local currency has devalued by over 40% since the start of the year.

As thousands of education graduates remain jobless, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is failing to fill a huge staffing gap in schools across the country.

Minister responsible Evelyn Ndlovu was challenged by MPs on Wednesday over the lack of specialist teachers for children with learning disabilities who, lawmakers added, attend school without receiving any education.

In response, the Minister said; “We lack teachers in different schools.

“Our ministry is doing its best to recruit qualified teachers to augment those already in schools,” Primary and Secondary Education Minister Evelyn Ndlovu told MPs on Wednesday.

“This morning, I challenged the Ministry of Labor regarding this particular situation”

Lawmakers then questioned why the department was not recruiting from among the thousands of unemployed education graduates.

Honorable Sipho Makone

“I would like to know where the problem is exactly because we have a lot of graduate teachers who are not employed,” Hon. Sipho Makone said.

“These are qualified teachers who are looking for jobs but cannot find vacancies in schools despite the shortages the minister has alluded to.”

The minister said that although the ministry had been promised to fund 5,000 new teachers, the money was insufficient due to rampant inflation.

“We were promised 5,000 teachers this year but due to inflation we managed to hire a small percentage of the teachers required.

“So, we hope that the amending budget will come as a panacea to our problem which will also allow us to look into the question of salaries, to secure vehicles.

“The challenge is that our budgeted resources have been affected by hyperinflation, which has resulted in the government’s inability to pay teachers.”