Technical school teachers want Govt to recognise them

MALAHANG Technical High School has two major issues that are currently taking a toll on the school.
Frustrated teachers last week expressed their disappointment at the Education Department for failing to recognise them as technical teachers.
Principal Nelson Kaupa said the teachers were currently paid as vocational teachers even though the school was now recognised as a technical high.
The school was to have undergone a trial as a pilot school, to merge a high school and a technical school, thus the change to Malahang Technical High School.
The intention of this move was to increase the student’s chances of having a place either academically or vocationally after they graduated. Mr Kaupa said through the years, the school had done well in producing “a good number of successful students” By now, the Education Department should recognise the teachers’ efforts and elevate their status to those of high school teachers which would provide for better pay.
He said the teachers consisted of graduates from teachers colleges and experienced trade persons who have been in the workforce and “have accumulated a vast amount of knowledge in their field”.
Some of these technical instructors have supplemented their qualifications by earning teaching certificates.
Mr Kaupa said it was almost 10 years and the teachers were “becoming frustrated and impatient”.
He said his biggest fear was that he would lose some of his best staff to schools and companies who would pay them better.
The school is also “an eyesore” as many concrete buildings stand uncompleted.
Its administration office is hidden behind concrete blocks giving a newcomer the impression of a rundown office instead of one in the process of being extended.
“The lack of finance has resulted in incomplete classrooms and teachers houses,” teachers said.
Mr Kaupa said a major reason to this was that parents were not paying up their components.
He said a total of K186,000 worth of school fees had yet to be paid.
Mr Kaupa also said that the school had also received K79,000 for subsidies instead of the usual K140,000 and this had really “affected operations in the school”.