Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT should create a Teaching Council to regulate the profession and Parliament has been urged to facilitate the enactment of legislation to enable its establishment. This is contained in a report

by the Portfolio Committee on Education, Sport, Arts and Culture on the challenges facing the education sector in the country.
In the report the committee noted that stakeholders wanted the creation of the regulatory body that will licence teachers as is the practice in some Sadc countries.
“Teachers at all public hearings informed the committee that the teaching profession was facing a lot of challenges because of the absence of a teaching regulatory council,” reads part of the report.
“Participants informed the committee that there was need for Parliament to create a Teaching Council, to regulate teachers including issuing or reclaiming of teaching licences among other activities.”
The committee said this was the practice in countries like Botswana and South Africa.
“The participants highlighted that the council would work towards the improvement of the education sector in general and ensure quality service by teachers,” said the committee.
In its recommendations the committee said: “The committee noted the need for a Teaching Council and recommends that Parliament should facilitate the creation of such a piece of legislation as well as revisiting the Education Act.”
The committee also urged Government to revise the primary schools curricula. It says the 11 subjects taught at primary level were too much for the young children.
The committee said this was overloading both the teachers and pupils compromising quality.
The committee noted the deterioration of infrastructure at most schools and urged Government to urgently address the issue as some children were learning in the open.
The committee urged Government to improve the conditions of service for teachers and scrap incentives saying this had proved unpopular from all the stakeholders in the education sector.