The Association of Private Schools in Zambia says most teachers leave the private sector in preference for the civil service because they are lowly paid compared to government salaries.
Association Interim President Enock Kaputula said the association has lost more than half of its members following government’s recruitment of over 30, 000 teachers adding that the association had over 7, 000 teachers working in the private sector.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Kaputula added that a number of teachers tend to leave the private sector for greener pastures as primarily; government offers better salaries than the private sector.
Kaputula mentioned that government also provides job security, as most teachers have assurance of keeping their jobs once they are in the civil service than in the private sector where they are working on contract basis.
He however said the association is working on improving its conditions of service to avoid losing its members to government in order to maintain the workforce adding that it is not something that will happen instantly but gradually as the association is growing and most of its members are still small.
The Association President also noted that in as far as parents are happy with the good service received from private schools, one of the biggest challenges the private sector is facing is payments from most parents that do not seem to be consistent.
Kaputula explained that the inflow of cash from parents in most private schools is not consistence hence finding it hard to improve the conditions of service for the teachers.
He said, “That inconveniences the operations of the sector as most of the parents with children in private schools pay in instalments and when payments are due they would come through and only to make promises to pay later.”
Kaputula however could not state the minimum or maximum pay that teachers in private schools get but mentioned that payments vary from school to school and the size of a school determines how much the teachers are paid.
