Government Concludes 2024 Teacher Recruitment Exercise.

The Minister of Education, Hon. Douglas Syakalima, has announced the conclusion of the 2024 teacher recruitment exercise, confirming that the names of the 4,200 successful candidates will be published on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in both print and electronic media.

Speaking at a press briefing today, Hon. Syakalima further disclosed that the government is in the process of recruiting an additional 2,400 teachers under the replacement exercise. The recruitment process for this batch is expected to be finalized within the next two weeks, and their names will be published separately from the 4,200 recruited under net recruitment.

According to the minister, the 4,200 newly recruited teachers include 424 for early childhood education, 1,136 for primary education, and 2,640 for secondary schools. He emphasized that all categories include teachers with disabilities, with 10 percent of the positions reserved for them. However, only 202 teachers with disabilities were recruited out of the 420 reserved slots due to the subject requirements under the newly implemented curriculum.

"As you are aware, the government began implementing the new curriculum in February this year. This curriculum necessitated the recruitment of more STEM, practical expressive arts, and business studies teachers," Hon. Syakalima stated.

The minister reiterated the government’s commitment to improving education standards in Zambia, citing key initiatives such as the introduction of the Education for All policy (free education), mass production of desks, and the construction of new school infrastructure.

"Other notable efforts include the re-introduction of meal allowances and the increase in student loan allocations, among many other reforms in the education sector," he added.

Hon. Syakalima noted that while the government has made significant strides in improving education, these efforts would be ineffective without sufficient qualified teachers. He stressed that the annual recruitment of teachers is part of an ambitious strategy to reduce the high teacher-pupil ratio, which currently stands at 1:58 for primary schools and 1:38 for secondary schools.

Reflecting on the 2023 recruitment exercise, the minister recalled that while the government initially budgeted for 4,500 teachers, an overwhelming 78,000 applications were received. This demand led to an additional recruitment of 2,721 teachers, bringing the total to 7,222 instead of the initially planned 4,500.

“This means we were left with 70,778 applicants who were not recruited,” he noted.

The minister assured the nation that the government remains committed to addressing the teacher shortage and improving education quality through continued recruitment and investment in the sector.