National Action for Quality Education in Zambia-NAQUEZ, has expressed disappointment that the Ministry of General Education (MoGE) has abandoned more than 2000 teachers it promised to sponsor for training at DMI St. Eugene University.
In a statement to Zambian Business Times- ZBT, on March 11, 2020, NAQUEZ executive director Aaron Chansa, reveals that in 2014, the Ministry of General Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with DMI St. Eugene University for teacher training. He said this understanding was to the effect that the University was to train more than 2000 government teachers in Mathematics and Sciences.
‘‘The training was to be fast tracked in order for the government to mitigate the acute shortages of Maths and Science teachers the country. The degree program was to take three (3) years and all the fees were to be settled by the Ministry itself,’’ said Mr Chansa.
He said shockingly, the Ministry stopped paying fees on behalf of the teachers just after the second semester, but DMI St. Eugene University continued to provide the service until the teachers completed the scheduled training in 2017, and no one has graduated from the 2000 educators because the University has withheld their certificates.
Chansa has since called on the MoGE to explain why it abandoned the said students. He said the ministry should also explain why a lot of deserving teachers have stopped receiving responsibility allowances saying if the situation will not be remedied quickly, it has great potential to further disorient thousands of teachers in the country.
‘‘It is difficult to believe that the whole of Ministry of General Education would craft an MoU, round up 2000 teachers from the ten provinces but abandon them along the way. This is because we honestly expect the Ministry to be in the forefront of motivating teachers in the country,’’ added Mr Chansa.
By press time, ZBT had not managed to get a formal response from the Ministry of General education.
