The Ministry of Education in Eastern Province says that it will soon carry out a decongestion exercise for township schools that are over staffed.
This follows an observation last week by ZNUT, the Zambia National Union of Teachers, that some schools in towns are over staffed, while those in rural areas are facing a serious shortage of teachers.
Provincial Education Officer, Allan Lingambe, says that although no authentic survey has been conducted to ascertain ZNUT’s claims, observations show that some schools in towns have too many teachers.
He explained that once a go ahead is given by the permanent secretary, teachers, who are in township schools will have to be sent back to where their payrolls are.
Mr. Lingambe explained that some teachers work in township schools, when their payrolls are for schools situated in a rural area.
Last week, ZNUT provincial chairperson, Alakwisa Phiri charged that there is need to strike a balance for both rural and township schools.
He said that currently, some schools situated in towns have two teachers teaching one subject, while those in rural areas are overloaded with work.
Mr. Phiri’s observation prompted some teachers in rural areas to come out and explain the overload of work, with some revealing that they handle more than two subjects in four Grades.