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: timothykambilima@yahoo.com/Cell:0973026897