130,000 Apply For Teacher Licenses

ABOUT 130,000 teachers countrywide have applied for the teaching practicing licenses, Teaching Council of Zambia (TCZ) registrar Ebby Mubanga has disclosed.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, Dr. Mubanga said it was now mandatory that all teachers in Zambia should obtain the licenses from the council.

“It is required that for any teacher to work in any Zambian school, be it a pre-school, primary, secondary school or college of education, she or he must first register with the council and will be required to renew their certificates every three years,” he said.

He explained that TCZ’s mandate is to regulate the teacher’s practice and professional conduct in Zambia and also to accredit colleges of education and that it was time to ‘‘bring some level of sanity’’ in the education sector.

Dr. Mubanga said it was important that teachers serving both in Government and private schools met the minimum requirements of college or university education accredited to TCZ.

“So far 130,000 teachers have registered but not every application will qualify to have a license; it’s a process and we need to verify if the qualifications are genuine. We are still developing the register and soon we will be done,” he said.

“We are hoping that by the end of August registration would have been concluded and we can start issuing licensing certificates,” he said.

He said in line with their mandate all colleges of education needed to be accredited to the TCZ.

“About 137 colleges had applied, out of which 126 were accredited provisionally or fully, 92 were fully accredited, 34 were provisionally accredited and about 11 rejected,” he said.

He said TCZ was aware that there were some colleges which had not been registered up to now; and once discovered that they were operating illegally the law would visit them.

He appealed to parents and guardians to take their children to institutions which were recognised and accredited to avoid their children finding it difficult to find employment in future.

“TCZ has requested employers of private or public schools only to employ those trained by accredited institutions and certified by TCZ,” he said.

Dr. Mubanga advised the public not to pose or masquerade as teachers and that they should not compromise on the quality of education. As a regulatory body TCZ would take action on anyone found wanting.

“Teachers should acquire qualifications genuinely and at recognised institutions and once again we urge parents to take their children to colleges and universities that have been accredited by TCZ,” he said.