The Basic Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ) has welcomed government’s plans to recruit and deploy 2,500 teachers this month.

BETUZ Director for Public and International Relations Hilary Chipango said the recruitment will help enhance the quality of education in the country because it will narrow the teacher-pupil ratio in most schools.

Mr. Chipango told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka yesterday that for a long time now, the education sector has been facing challenges of increased teacher-pupil ratio that affected pupils’ attention in school.

He explained that this impacted negatively on the country’s attainment of quality education for all.He said government should strive to improve Zambia’s education standards and meet the move towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Mr. Chipango said this goal can only be achieved if government invests in the education sector and ensures that more people have access to quality education. He added that the education sector has a significant role to play towards the realization of any nation’s economic growth hence the need to be well managed.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chipango has appealed to teachers that would be employed to be ready to work in any part of the country. He noted that some teachers who have had an opportunity of getting employed have lost their jobs because they do not want to serve in rural areas.

He pointed out that teachers should always be ready to work anywhere in order to reduce the problem of staff shortages.

He has also advised government to quickly implement the rural hardship allowances and other incentives that can act as motivation to teachers operating under difficult conditions.

Government has announced that it will this month recruit about 2,500 teachers in order to address staff shortages being experienced in most basic schools in Zambia.

ZANIS

President Rupiah Banda has declared Friday 5th March 2010, a day of national mourning in honour of the late Deputy Minster for Home Affairs Misheck Bonshe.

Acting Secretary to the Cabinet, Robert Mataka said during this period flags will fly at half mast and activities of entertainment nature will be postponed or cancelled from 06:00hours to 18:00hours.

Mr. Mataka has also disclosed that the church service for the late Mr. Bonshe will be held tomorrow, Thursday 4th March 2010 at 10:00 hours at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

He said this in press statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka this evening.

Mr. Mataka said after the church service, the body of Mr. Bonshe, who was also Member of Parliament for Mufumbwe, will be flown to Mufumbwe in North-western Province at 12:00 hours where it will lie in state.

He said that burial is expected to take place on Friday, 5th March 2010, in Mufumbwe.

Mr. Bonshe died in Lagos, Nigeria on Sunday February 28th 2010 after an illness. His body has since arrived in the country in readiness for burial.

The late Mr. Bonshe 65, leaves behind a wife, Regina, seven children and three grand children.

ZANIS

The Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) has called for the inclusion of journalists among those that will be protected in the public interest disclosure bill number 12 of 2010, which is also referred to as the protection of whistleblowers bill.

PAZA vice president Amos Chanda said the bill must include the rights of media players to access information in their deliberate effort to effectively fight corruption.

Mr. Chanda, who welcomed the introduction of the bill, said this is in tandem with the practice of ethical journalism in protecting sources and the media’s role of watchdog.He said if passed, the bill will greatly contribute to the fight against corruption in the country because persons with information on such vices will be encouraged to disclose information without fear of adverse consequences.

“The decision by the state actors to put together this law needs the support of all Zambians and as PAZA we believe that a deliberate effort must be made to strengthen the bill for it to contribute effectively to the fight against corruption,” he said.

He however said the law will be irrelevant to the media without the Freedom of Information Bill.

Mr. Chanda made these submissions when he appeared before a parliamentary committee on legal affairs on the public interest disclosure (protection of whistleblowers) chaired by Monze Central Member of parliament Jack Mwiimbu in Lusaka today.

And appearing before the same committee, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia Chairperson Henry Kabwe also called for the inclusion of the word media in the bill as recipients of whistleblower information.He also called for the protection of media houses that would publish such information.

Mr. Kabwe, who also welcomed the bill, said the draft in its current state, appears to be discouraging whistleblowers from giving their information to the media.

He said the media are important components of democracy hence the need for them to be specifically mentioned in the whistleblower law.

“The coming of this bill is a welcome development. The need for protecting whistleblowers has been recognised by various institutions namely the media, advocacy organisations and investigative agencies of government. It however needs to include media as vehicles for whistle blowing in the Act. It is essential that the media be specifically mentioned in any whistle blowing law,” he said.

 ZANIS