ABOUT 16 000 trained teachers are jobless, with universities and colleges unloading 2 000 more every year, Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora has said.

Government, at the beginning of this term, set a target of recruiting 2 300 teachers, but nothing has happened yet.
Dokora blamed what he described as “incoherence” between the Finance and Public Service ministries for the hold-up in recruitment.

“I needed 7 000 teachers last year, but by the decision of the Cabinet, I was told that I was going to get 2 300 teachers,” he told Kwekwe school headmasters and school development committee (SDC) chairpersons last week at Loreto High School.

“We are still waiting for the clearance from the Public Service. The challenge is that there is an incoherence between Public Service and the Finance ministries.” Dokora said the recruitment of teachers is going to be based on specialised areas to push the new curriculum.