13 Feb 2019

Temporary teachers are absorbed into the service on permanent terms whenever a vacancy arises, Minister of Basic Education, Mr Bagalatia Arone has said. Answering a question in Parliament on Tuesday, Minister Arone explained that vacancies arose as a result of resignations, retirements, end of contracts and death, adding that as schools expanded the ministry got additional posts, which added on to the number of vacancies.

He said temporary teachers were absorbed in line with the database of unemployed graduate teachers. The minister noted that his ministry was currently exploring the possibility of reducing the student/teacher ratio through team teaching, which would allow more than one teacher to teach a particular class at a time.

This, he said, was also subject to the availability of posts. Mr Arone stated that a large number of temporary teachers were employed to stand in for teachers on maternity or study leave and that it was less likely that such temporary teachers would be absorbed. Further, he said, the number of temporary teachers who were absorbed in the Francistown region from 2015 to 2018 at primary schools was 123, with 153 for secondary schools.

Francistown East legislator Mr Buti Billy had asked the minister to update Parliament on the strategies in place to absorb all temporary teachers to permanent positions. Mr Billy had also wanted to know the number of such teachers who were absorbed in the Francistown region from 2015 to 2018. ENDS