EDUCATION Minister Douglas Siakalima says out of the 30,496 newly recruited teachers, 17,400 have already been placed on the payroll.
Mr Siakalima said the 17,400 teachers put on the payroll were those that had completed the necessary documentation and had reported to their respective schools.
He said the teachers on the payroll would receive their first salary next month.
He said the ministry of Education had also struck a deal with Absa Bank Zambia which would see the newly recruited teachers banking with the financial institution access bank free services for three months.
Mr Siakalima said this when he toured Linda Secondary School in Livingstone yesterday.
He said the ministry of Education would follow the directives by President Hakainde Hichilema to ensure an improved education sector.
“As of yesterday, 17,400 were already on payroll, unless for those who have not reported or finished with the documentation process. This time around we are dealing with a very effective system and we expect citizens to appreciate the efforts of President Hichilema,” Mr Siakalima said.
He said Zambians should commend President
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Hakainde Hichilema to ensure an improved education sector.
“As of yesterday, 17,400 were already on payroll, unless for those who have not reported or finished with the documentation process. This time around we are dealing with a very effective system and we expect citizens to appreciate the efforts of President Hichilema,” Mr Siakalima said.
He said Zambians should commend President Hichilema for fulfilling his promises in the education sector within a short period of time.
He commended Linda Secondary School head teacher Hilda Mayuni for being innovative and sustaining the operations of the school through the production unit and other income-generating initiatives.
The ministry through the National Science Centre donated K20,000 towards the production unit at the school.
Mr Siakalima said some head teachers were reluctant to accept and embrace the free education policy, citing congestion in classrooms and were asking his ministry how they were going to deal with the situation.
He said it was unfortunate that when President Hichilema announced that all the children should be in school, some school administrators wanted to resist, a situation that was not right.
He said even if learners were many in classrooms, teachers should keep shaping them to be responsible citizens.
“Some head teachers wanted children to be vagabonds because if they are not in school to access quality education, they will be criminals in future and they will hate you as school administrators,” he said.
Livingstone District Education Board Secretary Aiden Kambunga said the district had received the grant for all the schools in the district.
Mr Kambunga said out of the 30,496 newly recruited teachers, Livingstone District was allocated 130 and all had since done the necessary paperwork.
