Lakes to screen teachers to ensure quality

The Ministry of Education in Lakes State says it will soon commence screening of more than 4,000 primary school teachers in an attempt to strengthen teaching and learning.

The Education Director General, James Marer Aluel says the exercise will take place on June 10 and will be conducted in all the eight counties of the state.

The minimum requirement for a public school teacher is high school level education and experience.

“Lakes is doing this as a way of transforming education sector into a stronger system by getting qualified and strong teachers to fill in the teaching gaps,” Marer told Mingkaman FM.

Majority of teachers in the state are volunteers, with only two teachers per school on government payroll.

“Most of the teachers are volunteers and so the ministry has gathered a little budget to be able to maintain the teachers that will qualify after going through this process,” he stressed, adding that the screening will be inform of an interview and whoever fails will not be enrolled as a teacher.

Meanwhile, Marer said the striking teachers from 53 government-run primary schools in Rumbek East have been called back to take part in the screening exercise.

There are close to 800 hundred teachers, including volunteers in the county. The teachers announced the sit-in strike on Tuesday, affecting nearly 20,000 pupils.

They downed their tools early this week over lack of motivation – something which remains unclear whether the state government had promised to give them incentives or not.