By Berio Mbala
WINDHOEK
Even though the Ministry of Education says there is a shortage of qualified teachers in the country, it turns out that there is a high number of unemployed teacher graduates trained by local colleges.
The army of locally trained teachers without jobs were trained at Caprivi College, Rundu College, Ongwediva College and Windhoek College.
Twenty-four-year-old Dennis Luyanda, a graduate from Caprivi College of Education who majored in Agriculture and Life Science in 2005, is one of the many graduates still walking around and roaming the streets looking for a teaching position.
In an interview with New Era, Luyanda said the Ministry of Education says there is a lack of trained teachers in schools and yet when one visits schools, principals say the schools are already overstaffed.
“It is difficult for one to predict who one can listen to and who is right – the ministry or principals in schools,” he said.
“The ministry is still training teachers in colleges such as Caprivi College, Rundu College, Ongwediva College, Windhoek College and Unam while after graduating, plenty of us are still on the streets looking for jobs.”
He added: “If one can imagine that it’s difficult to get a job, for us who majored in Agriculture and Life Science, then other graduates who majored in other fields such as Maths and Science, Social Studies, Intergraded Natural Science and languages are also without jobs.”.
He said most of those he knows in a similar position as his are employed as part-time teachers and that after a period of time they are sent back on the streets.
He said all college students in the country are given loans of approximately N$15 000 for three years of study and after graduating the ministry writes letters to them demanding they pay back the loan.
Luyanda asks: “How will we be able to pay back the loan if we are still unemployed? Where will we get the money to pay the loan back?”
According to the public relations officer in the Ministry of Education Toivo Mvula, the ministry does not have an overstaffing of teachers and still needs more teachers.
He said, “Graduates shouldn’t expect to get a job as soon as they finish their studies and it is the same with every profession.”
He said Namibia mostly has a shortage of engineers, geologists, scientists, agriculturists, accountants and economists, but graduates in these fields do not get jobs immediately. He added though that as time goes on they will find placement.
“Our country needs more teachers, and evidence of this is that we still employ unqualified teachers. Sometimes teachers with Grade 12 are being appointed on a temporary basis. That shows that qualified teachers in the country are still lacking,” he stressed.
Mvula also said many schools have shortages of teachers but the reason for this is that many of the teacher graduates do not want to apply for teaching posts in rural areas.
“Qualified teachers only apply at schools where they want to work, and if they don’t get a job, that is when they start to complain,” he said.
He also said teaching posts are being advertised in newspapers almost on a weekly basis but applicants do not show interest when the posts available are in areas where they do not want to be deployed.
“Every student teacher is expected to pay back the loan after getting a job so that the ministry can be able to give loans to other people with financial problems to their studies, ” he said.
Mvula also advised graduates not to run out of patience but to keep on applying and to be ready to work in rural areas.