The government says it intends to appoint 2 988 headmasters and deputies to fill primary and secondary school vacancies.
According to a memorandum from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education seen by The Sunday News, the government is seeking to employ a total of 1 318 primary school heads and a total of 532 secondary school heads.
The recruitment of heads and deputies began on 30 August, with prospective candidates set to have handed in their applications by 21 September.
Primary and Secondary Education communications and advocacy director Taungana Ndoro said that the recruitment of school heads will help improve pass rates and maintenance of infrastructure at schools across the country. Ndoro said:
The significance of these appointments is that there are a lot of headmasters or deputies that are currently in their roles in an acting capacity because in most cases, the incumbents would have moved elsewhere, retired or promoted.
So, by appointing substantive heads, we are making sure that there is binding responsibility that comes with the role because once appointed, a head becomes the custodian of whatever institution that they lead.
As we approach a crucial part of the education calendar, we intend to make sure that pass rates go up as well is make sure that school infrastructure is well maintained which is the responsibility of those in positions of leadership.
We are yet to see where we are in terms of vacancies for teachers. A lot of the headmasters and deputies are also teaching heads so they will also assume duties in the classroom while running the school.
Afterwards, we will then assess to see where we stand in terms of vacancies and then we shall see what the Public Service Commission allows us to do to remedy those vacancies should they be any.