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Private Teachers’ Colleges Adding To Low Standards
By Timothy Kambilima
FROM the time Government liberalised the education sector, the country has seen a good number of colleges of education in the private sector.
Government did this to allow the private sector to supplement its efforts in the provision of tertiary education for teachers.
Before that, Government depended on provincial teacher training colleges and the two universities, University of Zambia (UNZA) and the Copperbelt University (CBU) to train teachers.
With the country facing a shortage of 22,000 teachers by September, 2014, according to Ministry of Education Deputy Minister David Mabumba, it was envisaged that private colleges of education and universities will help Government meet this shortfall.
Once the teachers are employed, they will help in improving the pupil-teacher ratio in most of our schools, especially rural areas.
The training of teachers for both primary and secondary education in the country is a collective responsibility of all concerned stakeholders in the education sector.
Private colleges of education should ensure that the development of quality teaching staff is achieved throughout the country.
In Zambia, many private colleges of education and government-run colleges of education are affiliated to the University of Zambia.
But the question is; are these private colleges of education operating according to UNZA regulations and requirements for better standards? Are these colleges recruiting students on merit?
As a person who has been in touch with the education sector for a long time, I have observed that many student teachers from private teacher training colleges are serving two masters at once.
Firstly, they are undergoing training at these colleges and at the same they enter for General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations. Why do they do this? The answer is straight forward; they were accepted to train as teachers in spite of not meeting the entry requirements.
Some of these students don’t have the right Grade 12 certificates, hence they are compelled to clear or work on their certificates for them to be eligible to write college final examinations.
What do you expect from such student teachers?
No wonder invigilators have a torrid time when invigilating GCE examination candidates who try by all means to pass.
The same students will graduate and later become teachers in primary and secondary schools.
The end result will be that they will not deliver according to the expectations.
In the past, student teachers were screened through aptitude tests before they were taken in.
But today every Jim and Jack is taken on because the owners of private colleges of education are interested in money more than in quality.
These colleges of education that have mushroomed should not take Government for granted.
Government has created an enabling environment for private colleges to operate smoothly in Zambia, but they should also reciprocate the goodwill by maintaining standards because their students will be handling humans and not machines.
Government was concerned about the mushrooming of unregistered private colleges of education in Zambia, which is why it came up with the Teaching Council of Zambia through Parliament with a view to raising the standards of education in our country.
What then should be done to improve education standards in these private colleges of education?
The Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education, through the Teaching Council, should closely monitor the recruitment of students at all private colleges of education.
We must ensure that the entry requirements are adhered to all the time. Those who don’t qualify should not be offered places until they have cleared at Grade 12 (GCE) level.
Secondly, all private teacher training colleges must only be registered if they meet the requirements set by the Council.
One of the requirements is to have qualified lecturers and not diploma holders who are teaching in secondary schools.
In most cases, these ‘lecturers’ are employed on part time basis since they are occupied in the morning.
The district education board secretaries (DEBS) and school headteachers should ensure that student teachers applying for teaching experience or attachment have a Grade 12 certificate with acceptable grades.
Imagine your child being taught by a student teacher who is at the same time preparing to sit for four subjects under GCE and at the same getting ready for the college examinations.
How will such a student teacher prepare adequately to teach your child? The Examinations Council of Zambia, which was established in 1983, should be very proactive in the monitoring of examinations in these private colleges of education.
Lastly, private teacher training college owners should not put personal financial gain first, but add value to education standards.
Some primary and secondary school headteachers are now asking where the student teachers are coming from before being taken on for teaching practice.
The reason is simple; the training being offered to the students by the backyard colleges is not up to the required standard.
To those private colleges of education that are doing fine please keep it up, but those operating below the par, you need to pull up your socks and help the government meet its aim of offering quality education for all.
Many thanks to Jabes Mumba of Luanshya, Kingwell Mwanza, Tricia Bwalya of Ndola and Joseph Musonda of Lusaka for being ardent followers of the column.
Contact: [email protected]/Cell:0973026897
Posted by Editor
on July 24, 2015. Filed under LATEST NEWS.
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Denkete
July 24, 2015 at 5:03 pm
Written with verve. The products of most private teachers colleges leave much to be desired. The teaching council MUST go flat out and do the needful in promoting quality education at tertiary level. The raw deal starts at admission, the Teaching Council must blacklist colleges that compromise standards.
Kafundisha Mukalamba
July 24, 2015 at 5:11 pm
I am struggling whether to post an application letter I received from a graduated teacher from one of the colleges on the copperbelt.
On second thought, I won’t because it can lead to deep embarrassment to the sender.
PATHETIC cannot be be enough to describe the letter.
Think Heavy
July 24, 2015 at 5:29 pm
The author should do more research bcoz university of zambia is the first culprit, myself i once taught unza students on pat-time under extention studies in one of their centres an most of theier students if not all didn’t hav G12 certificates. So what standads ar u talking about, unza, cbu are just names, my frend just open one an then set standads. As for teachas and other profesionals forget bcoz thoz at unza n cbu manage to go their on leakages and thoz who fail to have go to private colleges, so wat is the diffence?
Czar
July 24, 2015 at 5:48 pm
Reading your post, I doubt you are capable of teaching anyone, let alone students at UNZA.
New Educated Zambia©❤√
July 24, 2015 at 5:52 pm
kiki czar these days you are full of hate and personal attacks. Please engage people maturely. We need you all to change this country in 2016
Czar
July 24, 2015 at 7:32 pm
Careful NEZ. You may just be attacking friendly forces. Vote wisely.
New Educated Zambia©❤√
July 24, 2015 at 5:41 pm
With poor governance right at the top of the PF government, it only means that there will be poor regulation of institutions and acitivities on the micro level at the ground. The pf has failed you and I. In 2016 let us make a statement by voting UPND and bringing sanity to the education sector
Think Heavy
July 24, 2015 at 6:19 pm
Czar, am capable of teaching anyone even yo entir clan, deny wat am saying but thaz the truth. problems ar in all institutions, teaching council is the answer thank God i wl b part of it.
Czar
July 24, 2015 at 7:34 pm
Nonsense. My entire clan are not in the same field to be taught by one individual.
UMWAUME
July 24, 2015 at 6:56 pm
@HEAVY THINKER
In the UK Cambridge and Oxford universities are the symbol of excellence so is CBU and UNZA in Zambia. If you never went there sorry dear. I graduated from CBU and it’s not easy. Coming to the topic at hand I agree with the written. Much is left to be desired. However the problem is not teacher colleges alone but also the so called universities such as Information and communications university, Copperstone University and Northrise university to mention a few. Zambian education has been compromised. God help us
Yankee
July 24, 2015 at 8:00 pm
Especially nkana college of education
Village Champion
July 24, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Finally someone has posted sense. We are sick and tired of under performing students from some of these questionable colleges.
Washeni
July 24, 2015 at 10:37 pm
The teaching council should regulate all training institutions including UNZA and CBU. UNZA and CBU have also money mongers with the so called parallel programme (Improved APU). The council needs to monitor the quality of programmes offered by these institutions. For example UNZA runs the so called BEd Primary whose graduates cannot teach grade ones effectively. In other countries teacher with as higher as master’s degrees specialise in foundation education (grades 1-4). Here teachers pay so much to improve their qualifications so that they might be promoted or move from primary to secondary. Some are even paying others to write them assignment. The teaching council is a welcome idea but check all colleges and the programmes they offer. Publicise the higher education institutions that meet the stands of providing quality teachers.