The Public Service Commission (PSC) revealed that the country has close to 20 000 unemployed trained teachers, some of whom graduated 6 years ago.
In a statement released on Monday, PSC chairman Vincent Hungwe said that the Commission will consider exporting teachers to regional countries. He said:
Concurrent with the foregoing the attention of the Commission has been drawn to the plight of 19993 teachers who completed their training some as far back as 2012 but not yet been placed in teaching positions.
Accordingly, the government in partnership with the Commission is exploring several initiatives to create opportunities for the teachers who are not absorbed under the recruitment exercise to be placed in schools when national budgetary resources permit.
… Government and the Commission are also exploring opportunities to place the teachers in SADC member states and other regions through mutually beneficial bilateral and multilateral arrangements.
The government has over the years frozen the recruitment of teachers citing budgetary constraints. The recent Transitional Stabilisation Plan announced by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube which is premised on austerity has made the situation even worse.