Government plan to interview teachers before employment draws mixed reactions

 

A teacher instructs pupil in class. PHOTO | FILE

By Jacob Mosenda

Education writer/journalist with The Citizen Mwananchi Communication Limitted

Summary

·         The Minister for Education, Science, and Technology, Prof. Adolf Mkenda, said that the goal of the new rule was to improve education and get the best graduates at the levels of pre-primary, primary, and secondary education.

·          

Dar es Salaam. The government’s intention to begin interviewing graduate teachers for employment has elicited mixed reactions from education stakeholders, with some applauding the idea and others dismissing it.

The minister for Education, Science and Technology Prof Adolf Mkenda, said on Friday that the move will not affect the teachers who are currently at work.

The minister said the goal was to improve education and produce the best graduates at the pre-primary, primary, and secondary levels. Prof Mkenda stated that the decision was part of a plan to enhance the position of teachers and the industry, which had deteriorated in previous years.

The minister revealed the plan during the presentation of the awards to the teachers who won the first competition for teaching skills in counting and mathematics held in Dar es Salaam.

Prof Mkenda said the government wanted to ensure that the best teachers are employed and not every teacher who graduates will be employed to teach even when they have no proper qualifications.

He said that the action will eliminate loopholes in the use of ‘connection’ to find teachers because the process will be open and professional.

“From now on, the next crop of teachers will be based on ability criteria. The teachers will go through a special test and interview before they can be hired, with only those with the right qualifications getting the nod,” he explained.

Regarding the competition that comes from the BOOST project, funded by the World Bank with a value of $500 million, Prof Mkenda noted that the exercise will be sustainable even when the project comes to an end.

Giving his personal thoughts as a stakeholder in education that are not related to the position of the institution he comes from, Mr Makumba Mwemezi commended the government’s plan, believing that it will bring dignity to the teaching industry as it does to other professions.

“It is the right decision because the colleges that produce teachers and other professionals are the same. When other companies want to hire employees, they interview them regardless of how many years of experience they have, it is good for teachers to be interviewed as well,” he said. “Also, the government should go further and strengthen the institutions that manage teachers, such as the teachers’ professional board and the teacher’s commission, which regulates professionalism and manages the ethics and performance of teachers,” he added.

However, one of the teachers who is currently an education officer (name withheld) said that the government’s plan to interview and test teaching graduates is unfair and damages the image of the teaching profession.

She said that a teacher goes through various types of training, including field practice and when he finishes, he is qualified to teach, so if there is an interview process, they may not get the best cream they want, and they will disappoint many teaching graduates who have been on the street for many years.

“That plan is ineffective. You can interview someone and he will answer you well until you see that he is suitable, but in delivering materials, it requires an extra capacity, so I see it as a plan to further bother the teaching industry,” she said.