Zambia

In 1999 there were roughly 30,000 trained teachers and 9,000 untrained teachers (Phiri 1999). The goal was to produce 4,400 teachers every year between 1990 and 2000. The annual output of teachers from colleges was 2,226—2,174 less than the goal. There has been a shortage in the output of trained undergraduate as well as qualified graduate teachers. Consequently, the country relied on untrained teachers in primary schools. A large number of the untrained teachers are concentrated in rural areas. The secondary school teacher supply and retention is also beset with a high attrition rate. The shortage of secondary school teachers was cited to be particularly acute in mathematics and science subjects. With the anticipated expansion particularly at the primary sector following the implementation of the basic education sector approach, there will be an increase in the demand for teachers. It is therefore important that new priorities in the education sector include expansion of the teacher training programs to cope with the anticipated demand.

HIV/AIDS has had a toll on teachers. Six hundred of them died in 1997 and the figure catapulted to more than 1,000 by December 1998 (Phiri 1999). They died from many causes including HIV/AIDS. Those who remain are underpaid, poorly housed, demoralized, poorly deployed, provided with little support in the field, and given little instructional time. The average Zambian teacher's pay was about US$65 in 1998 (Phiri 1999). Steps being undertaken to reduce attrition rates of teachers include: increased teacher supply from the teacher training colleges, sensitization of teachers on HIV/AIDS, rural hardship allowances, increased salaries, high salary entry notch for rural areas, decentralization of payroll, home ownership scheme for teachers, and the freezing of urban positions (Silanda et al. 1999).