By Isaac Zulu
Upmarket school, Rhodes Park School, has seen 11 teachers leave the school to work in government institutions, with chief academics officer Samuel Lungu saying the departure was anticipated following the recruitment of over 30,000 teachers by the government.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Lungu, who is Rhodes Park School Chief Academics Officer, confirmed that some teachers have left the private learning institution, which has been in existence for many years and is held in high esteem, to join public schools following the recruitment of teachers to beef up the staffing levels in government, but was quick to say that the number of teachers that have left are not 13 but 11, adding that those that have migrated to the civil service are young people that have not worked at Rhodes Park School for more than two years.
“To start with, we welcome the decision taken by government to recruit more than 30,000 teachers. That is a milestone recruitment that has not happened over the years in my lifetime and yours. And I am happy that the education sector is becoming a competitive space. But I want to put it on record, I am with HR here, the number of teachers that have left Rhodes Park School is 11 and not 13. And I wish to clarify that those that have left to go and join public schools are mostly young and are trying to get established in their careers,” Lungu explained. “There are many reasons why people change the work environment – some it is because of career aspirations and would want to be in environment that would enable them to pursue further studies, others would want to have more time with the family. To some they would want to be headmaster and continue imparting knowledge in learners, while others would want to become DEBS (District Education Board Secretary), which does not exist at Rhodes Park School. So people leave at their own volition and we can not stand in their way. The last time government recruited 1,200 teachers, we lost three teachers that opted to join public schools. So with the recruitment of more than 30,000 teachers, it was anticipated that more members of staff will leave to join government.”
He said that management at Rhodes Park School cannot rule out the possibility of teachers that have migrated to public schools coming back to the private learning institution, saying this has been happening over years.
“We can only wish those teachers that have left our institution to go in government all the best in their career endeavours,” Lungu said. “To those that might want to come back, provided they are able to cope with our work load and buy into the work culture of Rhodes Park School; we shall welcome them because this has been happening over the years,” Lungu explained. “Mind you, Rhodes Park School teachers are hard working, they work harder and are dedicated to providing quality service in terms of education.”
He also assured parents whose children are at Rhodes Park School that management will not depart from its commitment of providing quality education in an effective and efficient manner.
“Rhodes Park School is a strong learning institution is a respectable employer. Our conditions of service for employees are over and beyond what most schools offer to their employees. And the parents whose children are at our school they should be guaranteed unwavering commitment to providing quality education to the learners in an effective and efficient manner. We would not want to have a template from public schools as a basis for providing quality to our learners. That we will not do… we do not want to compromise on our service provision,” said Lungu. “And it is for this reason that after the recruitment of teachers by government, we also took an initiative to recruit teachers to replace those that have left Rhodes Park School. We have since identified well qualified teachers from other private schools. To this effect, we will be conducting an induction next week. So in terms of staffing levels, we are very okay with what we have.”
