National Union for Public and Private Educators of Zambia (NUPEZ) Executive Director, Victor Muyumba, has commended the government for recruiting over 7000 teachers.

Mr Muyumba said that the government has so far performed well in the education sector adding that this is evident with the recruitment exercises that have been done so far.

Speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today, Mr Muyumba noted that he is hopeful that the recruitment exercise will be ongoing.

He said the number of the newly employed teachers will help bridge the gap between teacher pupil ratio.

Mr Muyumba said with the free education policy in place there is still a need to employ more teachers in the sector to satisfy the demand.

He said that the newly recruited teachers will accord pupils an enabling and conducive environment for learning.

He further advised the newly recruited teachers to report to their work station immediately they receive their offer letters.

Mr Muyumba said all citizens require equal opportunities for education and teachers should not shun rural areas due to unknown reasons.

He however, advised community members especially in rural parts of the country to support the newly deployed teachers.

And Secondary Schools Teachers Union of Zambia (SESTUZ) General Secretary Anthony Mukanda said that the government should continue with the recruitment exercise.

Mr Mukanda said the move was on a positive trajectory and emphasized on the need to recruit more teachers.

“Government has not been recruiting teachers for a long time, that’s the reason why we still have a lot of unemployed teachers on the streets,” he said.

Mr  Mukanda said there was congestion in classrooms and yearly recruitment was the only way to ease the burden.

He further encouraged those that have been left out to continue applying for positions whenever, government advertises positions