Shortage of STEM teachers cause for concern for go...

Shortage of STEM teachers cause for concern for govt

**Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education communications and advocacy director, Taungana Ndoro**

Zim Now Writer

The government says it is seized with coming up with a solution that will curb the shortage of teachers of Science subjects and Mathematics, a situation that has resulted in students in different provinces spending long periods of time without stem teachers.

Stem is for subjects that include Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology and ideal candidates are expected to be in possession of a Bachelor of Science degree in any of the above areas.

A post-graduate diploma in education and experience in teaching Advanced-level pupils is considered an advantage.

Government said that schools have faced a challenge of shortage of STEM teachers especially those in the remote areas, one of the reasons being that some of the teachers are leaving the country for greener pastures upon having completed their training.

Most schools in rural Matabeleland have greatly been affected by shortage of STEM teachers, a development that has been blamed for poor pass rates in Mathematics and Science subjects at some schools.

The low pass rate in Mathematics and Science has, for instance, also seen fewer children enrolling at the National University of Science and Technology.

To resolve the problem, Nust introduced the schools’ enrichment programme dubbed Nustsep, which targets schools in Matabeleland region.

Government has in the past resorted to employing university graduates with no pedagogy training as a stop-gap measure to address the shortage of Mathematics and Science teachers.

The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development recently said it is targeting to train 5 000 Mathematics and Science teachers by 2025.

In her presentation at the 2022 pre-budget consultation meeting in October last year, former Primary and Secondary Education Minister Evelyn Ndlovu said the education sector had a shortage of 50 000 teachers.

She described the teacher shortage as requiring urgent attention saying in 2022, the Treasury greenlighted the recruitment of 5 000, with the ministry proposing to employ 10 000.

Speaking during the National Assembly’s question and answer session earlier this year, Umzingwane MP, Levi Mayihlome said the shortage of science teachers was dire in Umzingwane District such that out of 45 vacancies, only two have been filled up.

In an interview on Sunday, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education communications and advocacy director, Taungana Ndoro, said the shortage of science teachers was cutting across all the schools.

“We are recruiting science teachers to teach physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology. We are actively recruiting because we have a shortage of those teachers within some of our schools,” he said.

“We want to actively reach out to those with those qualifications to come forward to the ministry and we consider them for posting. This will help us in terms of our science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects so that we are able to also become industrious as a nation.”

Ndoro could not immediately provide data on the number of teachers that the ministry intends to recruit.

“I don’t have the figures off hand, but it’s quite a challenge for our schools that are offering science subjects, particularly at Advanced level. This is why we have sought permission from the Public Service Commission to make sure that we recruit the teachers with qualifications in those areas,” he said.

“We are also actively considering those who did not train as teachers, but perhaps they have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics.

“Once we recruit them, then we will make sure that they undergo the pedagogic programme which enables them to disseminate the knowledge that they have about physics to our pupils,” he said.

National Association of Secondary School Heads president Arthur Maphosa said the shortage of STEM teachers is dire with some of the schools going for up to five years without teachers.

“It’s quite a dire situation and there are a number of schools where there is a shortage of science and mathematics teachers. It’s an SOS situation because for subjects such as physics, we have some schools that have been without teachers for up to five years,” he said.