Teachers for Economic Development (Trs4ED), a ZANU PF-affiliated group, has urged the government to take measures to ensure that teachers who want to work in the United are protected from human traffickers.
In a statement, Trs4ED said that there should be a bilateral agreement between the Government of Zimbabwe and the UK so that Zimbabwean teachers who get teaching jobs in Britain are protected. Reads the statement:
Teachers for Economic Development (Trs4ED) notes the United Kingdom’s designation of the new policy that allows qualified teachers from nine (9) countries including Zimbabwe to apply to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in the UK.
This will allow UK schools to recruit Zimbabwean teachers. Trs4ED notes the interest generated by this development in the teaching fraternity which was awash on social media.
Regarding this new development, Trs4ED is of the view that the government needs to intervene so that those teachers willing to take up the offer are protected from the jaws of human traffickers, incidents of irregular migration and being ripped off by the so-called visa sponsors.
In that regard, Trs4ED is set to engage with the Government of Zimbabwe particularly the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MOPSE) and Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to ensure that a system is developed that protects our teachers from the vagaries of chancers who end up initiating suspects into homosexuality, drug trafficking, human smuggling, human organs trafficking among other transnational crimes.
Noting that Zimbabwe is a friend to all and enemy to none, Trs4ED advocates for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or some form of a bilateral agreement between the Government of Zimbabwe and the UK so that our teachers are protected, respected and the profession remain dignified.
Our view is to push for a similar agreement between Rwanda and Zimbabwe that saw teachers working in Rwanda.
Lastly, Trs4ED can be represented in the diaspora where economic development projects are implemented back in our motherland.