There is a shortage of primary and secondary school teachers as disgruntled teachers have sought better opportunities offshore, leaving behind a shortage of skilled and experienced teachers.
This has been highlighted by the Minister for Education Aseri Radrodro in Parliament while responding to the President’s opening speech.
Radrodro says at the end of the day, students suffer when committed and passionate teachers become scarce.
He says there is a total of 865 Early Childhood Education centres and 736 primary schools around the country, and as such, there is a teacher shortage at the primary school level.
The Minister says right now, there are 335 secondary school teachers who are teaching in primary schools, and this should not be happening as primary education is a specialised field in itself.
He says while the shortage of primary school teachers was being experienced nationwide, primary school teachers were being retired at 55. The Minister says another concern is the lack of specialists in the field of Special and Inclusive Education.
Radrodro says consultations will be carried out with teacher training institutions, relevant Non-Government Organisations and donor partners to devise strategies to better support and strengthen pre-service and in-service teacher education to meet the needs in these areas.
He further says there are 175 secondary schools, 11 of which are government schools and while student numbers continue to grow over the years, the education sector continues to lose teachers through resignations and migration to schools overseas.
Radrodro says maths, computer, physics, PEMAC, industrial arts and office technology are some of the subject areas that are in need of teachers.
He says the Ministry has already received interests from teachers over 55 who are willing to continue providing their services.
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