HARARE, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwean government is recruiting 3,000 teachers to address shortages that have badly impacted on the education sector.
There have been reports that some rural schools have a ratio of one teacher to 120 or more students, the Herald newspaper reported on Monday.
The Public Service Commission froze the recruitment of teachers and other professionals in 2014. The education sector, in particular, has been hard hit with some teachers complaining of taking care of as many as 165 pupils in a class.
The new recruitment drive is also intended to facilitate a new curriculum introduced over a year ago which puts emphasis on practical subjects and a continuous assessment of pupils instead of judging them only on the basis of end-of-year exams.
The government recently gave a special dispensation to critical sectors, among them education, to unfreeze some posts.
The newspaper said Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education Tumisang Thabela had in a statement implored prospective teachers to register at their district education offices.
"We are very excited with that because the recruitment will go a long way in reducing shortage of manpower that has continuously affected our ministry," she told the newspaper.
Teachers' unions have welcomed the recruitment but said the figure fell short of the estimated 18,000 teaching vacancies that need to be filled.
