Teachers’ Qualifications worry ZANEC’s Grace M. Sinkamba
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Nyamphande Orphanage Community School President Bishop John Mambo with 2017 Savenda Management Services Best Girl Child Award winners Chipangano Musoni and Macklina Nkhoma
10th September, 2017 PRESSS STATEMENT (For Immediate Release)
THE Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC) is shocked by the revelations that over 500 teachers across the country have alleged forged academic qualifications.
As a key stakeholder comprising 68 different educational sector oriented Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Zambia, the ZANEC is calling for an urgent and extensive investigation in the matter to ascertain the exact magnitude of the problem.
The provision of quality education is one of the cornerstones of the education sector and having teachers possessing credentials that lacked credibility should not be tolerated. ZANEC also emphasizes the need for having constant and tight quality controls in the delivery of education both at primary and tertiary level.
The revelation by the Teaching Council of Zambia (TCZ) should not just be a matter of dismissal from employment on the affected teachers. The revelation should also be a good opportunity for relevant authorities to put in place tangible mechanism that will prevent unqualified people from entering the teaching profession. The proposed mechanism should be able to detect forged results at the point of entry into Teacher Training Colleges.
It is equally regrettable that some teachers had worked for many years before their alleged forged qualifications could be detected. While condemning any vices of illegalities, we also hope that the TCZ will accord the affected teachers an opportunity to be heard before striking any disciplinary measure on them.
We don’t want to have a country whose education quality is compromised and doubted. The introduction of authorities such as the TCZ has been supported by ZANEC from inception and such revelations on the existence of over 500 teachers with forged qualifications indicate a positive work that the body is doing.
We urged the Government through the Ministry of General Education and the Ministry of Higher Education to give full support to the TCZ if its functions of ensuring quality education provision was to be realized and subsequently sustained.
As an organisation equally charged with a responsibility of capacity building of member organisations, we encourage teachers to study hard and obtain their qualifications legitimately instead of using illegal means. The consequences of obtaining or forged academic or professional qualifications are grave and paint a bad image on the affected individuals and indeed the education system in Zambia.
We should all strive for quality to achieve excellence. Once more, we thank the TCZ for bringing out such unfortunate discoveries and revelations in our education sector.
Grace M. Sinkamba
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
