A mob of unemployed teachers had organised a peaceful demonstration in Oshakati on Tuesday, 03 June. They marched to the Oshana Regional Education office, seeking job opportunities and calling for the removal of interviews in the education sector. The teaching profession is known to hastily absorb unemployed graduates, but nowadays, things have changed, and business is no longer as usual. Back in the day, a qualified teacher would rarely stay for a month without being employed. 

But, nowadays the unemployment rate is skyrocketing in the teaching profession. To shed more light on this subject with the little understanding that I have, allow me to synoptically put this dilemma under a microscope and examine it. 

Biased career guidance 

Learners are more exposed to the teaching profession than any other careers, and in most cases, teachers tend to be their role models in every element of their existence. Hence, most students opt for the teaching profession, because teachers are most likely to influence their career choices. As a result, this would involuntarily blindfold them and forget about other better careers out there. Maybe, this happens because their career scope is limited to teaching. Therefore, schools need well-organised career guidance programmes that would be able to expand the career scope for the learners in order to sensitise and introduce them to other professions, careers and tertiary institutions.  

To ameliorate this situation, schools should host profession-related tours – this can be done by taking learners to visit and acquaint themselves with different tertiary institutions and workplaces such as hospitals, banks, parliament, mines, garages etc. By doing so, learners would get to know that there are a variety of careers with good perks, consequently, they would be impressed and enticed by different professions. Furthermore, career guidance facilitators should not be subjective when guiding learners to choose their careers or fields of study; instead, they should consider learners’ skills, abilities, aptitude and passion. 

Mushrooming universities and education faculties

Let us view this from churches perspective. In the 16th century, there was just only one church on earth, namely, the Catholic Lutheran Church. However, today the churches have significantly multiplied – especially the prophetic churches. Their worshipping rituals or practices may differ, but ultimately, they do use the same Bible to worship the same God. 

To juxtapose this, approximately 15 years ago, there were few teachers training institutions in Namibia, namely, Unam main campus, Ongwediva, Rundu, Katima Mulilo and Windhoek College of Education. The aforementioned colleges were believed to produce roughly about 2000 graduates per year, by then, and all were likely to be employed immediately after their graduation. Another challenge is that there are many teachers’ training institutions such as the six Unam campuses, IUM, IOL, Namcol, Welwichia etc. Roughly, all these institutions produce an aggregate of 4 000 graduates per annum, of which only approximately 300 teachers are likely to be employed per year and the rest would join others in the streets. 

Meaning, the current graduate figures have doubled the then figure. If we are to put it on the demand and supply scale, the supply rate has overwhelmed demand – which is supposed to be the contrary. Hence, we find situations whereby a single teaching post is being attended by hundreds of interviewees. 

Inadequate schools and classrooms 

I assume most of the schools were built before independence and few were built post-independence era, although I don’t have concrete figures to substantiate this. But, do your research! To put this into context, the population has significantly boomed post-colonial era, but few new schools were built to adequately accommodate all the learners. Supposedly, the number of schools should have been increased to synchronise with the increasing population. 

As a result, this has led to an imbalance in the teacher-to-learner ratio in Namibia. The recommended teacher-to-learner ratio is supposed to be 1:30, but at several schools, the ratio is being compromised drastically. For instance, there is a certain school that has 70 learners in a single classroom (1:70). This is already a disaster! Therefore, I think the government must prioritise building new schools or developing existing schools by constructing new classroom blocks in order to overcome the imbalance of the teacher-to-learner ratio. This would, however, create new space for the unemployed teachers to be absorbed into the system. 

The call to ban teachers’ interviews

I do not support this call. This is to say, if the total number of unemployed teachers overwhelms the figure of available teaching posts, for example, if roughly 80 teachers are eyeing one post at a certain school, what mechanisms would be used to select the best candidate – if not through interviews?  Not all graduates were well trained or have the passion and fortitude to teach – some are teachers by default and some are ‘factory fault’ of universities. The best way the employers could identify the best candidate is through conducting interviews. 

Teaching interviews offer numerous advantages for both schools and candidates. Interviews provide a valuable opportunity to assess a candidate’s communication skills, subject knowledge, and overall pedagogical understanding. In some cases, demonstration lessons are included, offering direct insight into a teacher’s instructional style and engagement techniques. Additionally, interviews help determine if a candidate aligns with the school’s values and culture, while also giving the candidate a chance to ask questions and understand the school better. 

In conclusion, unemployment is a national outcry – and it is not just high in the teaching profession, but it is everywhere and currently skyrocketing in almost every industry or profession. Speaking of the doom, the nursing profession must also watch out, because of the increasing number of health and nursing-related facilities and institutions. I am not deterring prospective students from studying to become teachers, however, the traditional mindset of saying if one studies to be a teacher – his or her chance of getting a job is secured, is very wrong. 

There are nice and copious professions out there waiting for fresh talents. It’s said, “The hardest prison to escape is not a cell, but the walls built by unemployment and despair.” 

To the unemployed teachers, thoroughly prepare yourself for the interviews and have unwavering faith in the current government. One day, the chains of unemployment will be broken. 

*Tomas Nehale is a teacher by profession. He writes in his personal capacity.