Dar es Salaam. The government has given itself about a month to look at grievances the unemployed teachers in Tanzania, under their umbrella body, the Non-Employed Teachers Organisation (NETO), have raised, urging for authorities to intervene to improve their life and welfare.
During a meeting between NETO leaders and the ministries responsible for public service and education on Wednesday, the government committed itself to forming a team of experts from five government ministries that will critically examine the issues NETO has raised for about 40 days before it comes up with proposed interventions.
Minister of State in the President’s Office for Public Service Management and Good Governance, Mr George Simbachawene, said the team of experts will draw its members from his ministry, as well as ministries responsible for education, finance, as well as planning and investment, who are required to advise the govermment on the best ways it can handle the issues that NETO and its leaders have raised.
NETO claims to represent all teachers who graduated across Tanzania between 2015 and 2023, who have been unemployed, and who want the government to take some measures that they think would end the “mass unemployment crisis” of teachers in the country.
During their February 21, 2025, press conference in Dar es Salaam, NETO leaders mentioned these measures, including doing away with job interviews for applicants for teaching vacancies in public schools, and reinstating the previous arrangement where graduates applied for jobs directly from universities and assigned a teaching post.
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They also called on universities to be able to finalise the process of confirming a graduate’s ability to teach, instead of the government forming an accreditation body that would do the task after students have left universities. NETO also called on the government to halt producing other teachers until those unemployed find jobs in government schools.
Minister of Education, Prof Adolf Mkenda, who was at the meeting with NETO leaders in Dodoma on Wednesday, hinted at the impossibility of doing away with job interviews as it encourages competition in the process, but said he’s keen to study the teachers’ recommendations closely.
“Your recommendations are sound, and we’re looking forward to reading the recommendations by the appointed team of experts, and finding a way forward,” Prof Mkenda told NETO leaders shortly after their joint meeting.
Addressing journalists in the capital Dodoma on Thursday following their meeting with the government ministers, NETO chairperson Joseph Paul said they are optimistic that the government will honour its promises, and they look forward to working together with the team of experts to resolve their grievances.
“Our main fight is employment,” Mr Paul told journalists. “The government promised us between 30 and 45 days it will come up with recommendations on how it can effectively resolve our main issues. We hope the government will do just that and put our cries to an end.”
READ MORE: Ministers to Meet with Unemployed Teachers Organization: ‘They Must Be Heard’
Prescient Samia Suluhu Hassan committed to employing a total of 14,648 teachers to reduce the shortage of teachers in Tanzania. So far, the government has employed 6,000 teachers who will teach in different primary and secondary schools across Tanzania.
Tanzania is reported to have a scarcity of 279,202 teachers for primary, secondary and schools for pupils with special needs.
