KIGALI, Rwanda
More than 200 Zimbabwean teachers are expected to arrive in Kigali this month to begin work in learning institutions across Rwanda, in part of efforts to bridge a tutors shortage in the country.
This follows the agreement on
the exchange of teachers entered into between the two countries last year
purposely to fill the skill gaps.
The selection followed the
normal process of job recruitment where 500 teachers submitted their
applications and 401 teachers were selected to sit an oral interview among
which only 224 passed.
Speaking at the Trade and
Investment Conference in September last year, President Paul Kagame told the
participants that Rwanda plans to recruit teachers from Zimbabwe to fill the
skill gaps and low numbers of trained teachers and urged the responsible
authorities to work on it urgently.
“…Zimbabwe can offer us, good
teachers. Work on that in a sense of urgency. Whatever number of quality
teachers you find we can absorb,” Kagame said.
After one year of waiting, the
batch of teachers is finally soon to arrive not later this month as per the
official sources.
Zimbabwean Permanent Secretary
for Labor and Public Service, Social Welfare, Simon Masanga, told the local
press that the recruitment process is ongoing and he confirmed the teachers
will depart the country to Rwanda not later than 17th this month.
“The recruitment process is
still ongoing,” he said. “So far we have completed the recruitment of at least
20 teachers and these, if all goes according to the plan, will leave on October
17 in a chartered plane.”
In August, Rwanda and Zimbabwe
signed bilateral agreements including an extradition treaty, memorandum of
understanding on Immigration Cooperation and a Memorandum of Cooperation when
investigating civil aircraft accidents and serious incidents.
According to the Zimbabwean
economic analyst, Denford Mutasa, the exchange of expertise and labor is a gesture
of willingness between the two countries to implement the African Free
Continental Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) that the respective countries entered into
back in 2018.
“African countries have
decided to increase bilateral trade and increase Intra-African trade soon after
signing the Africa Free Continental Area. If you look at Zimbabwe and Rwanda
around 2018 there wasn’t much between the two countries in terms of trade,” he
said.
Rwanda increased the salary of
teachers of primary school teachers by 88% and the salaries of secondary school
teachers by 40%.
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