- Move will give teachers structured grievance process
JOHN CHAAMBWA,
ESTHER NG’ANDU,
CHISHALA MUSONDA
Lusaka,
Kitwe,
Livingstone
GOVERNMENT will this month launch a teacher grievance redress mechanism guideline.
And Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) has implored Government to increase the 2027 national budget to fund the long-delayed upgrades of thousands of teachers.
Speaking at the commemoration of World Teachers’ Day, Ministry of Education permanent secretary for administration Noriana Muneku said the guideline, developed with World Bank support, would give teachers a fair, transparent and structured process for having administrative, professional or personal concerns addressed.
Ms Muneku said the ministry had also developed a Teacher Professional Development Index, a competency-based tool to support training, mentorship, assessment and career progression.
She said the ministry had re-united more than 1,782 couples separated by transfers and deployments, and that Government had reserved 10 per cent of recruitment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
“Celebrating teachers must go beyond words. It must be demonstrated through practical actions that improve their welfare, professional growth and dignity,” Ms Muneku said.
Secretary to Cabinet Patrick Kangwa, represented by Deputy Secretary to Cabinet Oliver Kalabo, said Government had recruited 41,422 teachers, which has significantly contributed to addressing staffing gaps.
He said Government will continue to invest in classrooms, desks and teachers’ houses and that the school feeding programme now reaches more than five million learners and the catch-up programme has been expanded to 6,400 schools.
Dr Kalabo said the free education programme had enabled millions of children to access education, but warned that this had also increased the demands placed upon the teachers.
He said Zambia recorded a Grade 12 pass rate of 70.26 per cent in 2025, while the Grade 7 pass rate among enrolled out-of-school adolescents reached 95 per cent.
World Teachers’ Day was held under the theme ‘Standing with Teachers: 60 Years of Protecting the Profession, Advancing its Status and Shaping our Futures’.
BETUZ secretary-general Henry Sinkala credited Government for introducing free education, recruiting about 40,000 teachers, constructing new schools, supplying about 1.6 million desks and expanding the school feeding programme to 216 districts.
UNESCO team leader Alice Sailion called for policies affecting teachers to be informed by evidence and shaped through meaningful social dialogue.
Meanwhile, Livingstone Central Member of Parliament Gracious Mayangwa says teachers have a critical role in moulding pupils into skilled people who can contribute to the growth of Zambia’s tourism sector. https://enews.daily-mail.co.zm/welcome/home