By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK Threats that the 2ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 165 un- and under-qualified teachers may summarily lose their jobs by the end of this year, abound in certain education regions of the country. This was announced yesterday by the Secretary-General of the Namibia National Teachers Union (NANTU), Basilius Haingura, at a press briefing. Most of these teachers have been allowed to upgrade their qualifications over the past seven years. “This has now become a national issue of concern to us in NANTU. Therefore, we wish to clarify the issue to our members and the teaching fraternity in general. Some regional offices are threatening these teachers that their services will be terminated by the end of this year, if they are not upgrading their qualifications, ” Haingura said. It is understood that many such teachers did make use of government in-service training projects, others not. “NANTU expects a reduction in the 2ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 165 un- and under-qualified teachers by next month, especially those who have made use of the Memorandum of Understanding that NANTU had signed with the then ministry of Basic Education, Sport and Culture on 15 December 1999,” he said. According to Haingura, under-qualified teachers form about 30 percent of the teaching fraternity, and 70 percent of the teachers are unqualified. “Under the agreement, no unqualified teachers will be employed in the future, except in exceptional circumstances. This issue has been discussed on various occasions with the ministry and circulars have been sent to regions to remind teachers to upgrade their qualifications via recognized tertiary institutions. However, the issues should be handled with prudence and without ignoring the history of this country,” he asserted. It is general knowledge that most unqualified teachers are used in the most remote and isolated villages and towns in the country because qualified teachers refuse to work there. “The government’s in-service training programme for teachers was discriminating on the basis that any teacher holding a teaching certificate was not admitted to the programme. The contributing factors to this situation include age restriction, Azalia College and limited space at institutions. The agreement with the ministry did not contain any clause pertaining to the termination of services of the concerned teachers. NANTU has also learned that registered teachers do not enjoy protection,” Haingura charged. Although this year is the last intake for BETD, NANTU demands that government institutions offering BETD courses, increase their capacity and also relax the requirement of a ‘D’ in English. “They (the institutions) should use the previous requirement of Grade 10 plus five years teaching experience and an ‘E’ in English, Grade 12, three years teaching experience and an ‘E’ in English. They should consider the serving teachers’ contributions towards the ministry for the couple of years their services are still needed,” he added. Haingura requested his union members not to panic or to be demoralized at this stage as this issue is receiving the utmost attention by NANTU. “Teachers should be motivated and encouraged to further their studies rather than being frustrated. Some of these teachers are very proud and committed towards the teaching profession. Through commitment, well preparedness and confidence in our daily work, we can prove to the nation that teaching is a calling and not a career,” he concluded.