Union welcomes suspended teacher recruitment directive

The Student Union of Namibia (SUN) has welcomed the suspension of a directive to stop recruiting graduates whose qualifications do not indicate specialisation in teaching the junior primary phase.

This comes after the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture withdrew formal education circular 3 of 2019 on junior primary teaching posts in state schools, which was issued last week.

Reacting to the suspension, SUN president Benhard Kavau on Tuesday said the union is grateful that the Constitution allows freedom of expression.

“Where there is democracy, there is a level playing field for all voices to be heard. We now invite all graduates to apply. It is our hope that everyone would be given equal opportunity without prejudice,” he said.

“Our hope is that perhaps the ministry’s stearing committee has the right people with the right mindset. There are clear statutory provisions on how programmes are developed from the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) to accreditation,” he said.

Kavau said the union believes the NQA is a leading force, since it deals with the development of the National Qualifications Framework in line with the National Development Plans, whereas the National Council of Higher Education deals with the registration of institutions.

The suspended directive would also have affected graduates with teaching qualifications not specifying the medium of instruction they have been trained and certified to teach in.