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GOVT SAYS OVER 40,000 TEACHERS NEEDED

Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Office for Regional Administration and Local Government, Aggrey Mwanri

By Polycarp Machira, Dodoma
Tanzania has a shortage of 43,441 teachers, the deputy minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office for Regional Administration and Local Government, Aggrey Mwanri told parliament yesterday.


Primary schools have a shortage of 25,164 while secondary schools with a total of 76,207 teachers need another 18, 277 teachers particularly for science subjects.

The deputy minister said there are 194,697 primary school teachers in the country a teacher to pupil ratio of 1:43 and that ratio worsens in rural and other marginalized areas.

He said there are only 42,940 primary school teacher houses and140, 812 more houses are needed while there are only 20,187 houses for secondary school teachers and 56, 520 more houses are required.

Mwanri said in the 2013/2014 financial year, the government allocated Sh20bn for construction of teachers’ houses in 40 municipal councils across the country.

The deputy minister also said the government plans to hire 16,000 in the current financial year.

He was responding to a question asked by Susan Lyimo,Special Seat MP(Chadema) who wanted to know what the government is doing to improve the working environment for teachers and their benefits.

 “Teacher to pupil ratio in some parts of the country is 1:100 which is contrary to government policy, what is the government doing to reverse the trend?” she asked.

As of January last year, Tanzania had a shortage of 57,177 teachers in government schools, a problem that the State pledged to eliminate in the coming few years.

Addressing thousands of residents at Barafu stadium in Igunga, Tabora Region last year, President Jakaya Kikwete said that the regions with the greatest shortage of teachers would be given priority in the allocation.

 President Kikwete also told the public rally that the government is also confronting other problems in the education sector including shortage of text books, laboratories and residential houses for teachers.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

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