CHANCES of a student from Matabeleland South enrolling at the University of Science and Technology (NUST) are reduced by 70 percent due to a secondary school teacher shortage for Science and Maths, an official said on Monday.
The province requires 261 Science teachers, but currently has 77 – representing a 70 percent shortfall. For Maths, only 106 of the 265 vacancies are filled, said Matabeleland South’s acting Provincial Education Director Samuel Selome.
The region only has one university – NUST – which is located in Bulawayo, and Selome warns that if the staffing crisis is not resolved, the region would be robbed of university education for its students.
“The situation is serious,” Selome said. “We have 70 percent vacancies for Science teachers and 60 percent for Maths.
"Beitbridge is the hardest hit area in the province with only 10 teachers for both Mathematics and Science in the district, while Matobo district is better staffed compared to other districts.”
No official staffing figures for schools in other provinces were available, but Selome said Matabeleland South was the worst affected.
Overall, the province has 452 teaching vacancies for primary schools and 335 for secondary schools.
Zimbabwe's education sector is undergoing reform after a decade of decline occasioned by an economic dip and a long-running political crisis.
Education Minister David Coltart has indicated there may be as many as 20,000 teaching vacancies countrywide after educators quit for better paying jobs in foreign countries.