School boards not taken seriously

UNDER-QUALIFIED TEACHER WRITES:

Almost all the teachers who started teaching way back started as unqualified teachers and through the in-service BETD program became qualified.

I applaud Hon. Katrina Hanse-­Himarwa for securing employment for thousands of young people across Namibia through the reintroduction of the in-service training program to obtain their diplomas in education. But there is a great concern in Hardap Region.

School boards were tasked to do the selection and conduct interviews. They made their selection, but this was disregarded by the acting director of education. Why do schools have school boards when their decisions are never taken seriously by the regional office? The regional office replaced under- or unqualified teachers with other under- or unqualified teachers, which does not make sense at all.

Some of us (under-qualified teachers) are paying for our studies to become qualified but this is overlooked. We put in more effort than most of the qualified teachers. Sacrificing a lot, because you need to prove to the school that they did not make a mistake in appointing you.

Why can we not also get the opportunity to be part of the in-service training? In-service training should also include the senior primary and junior secondary phase teachers.