Contracts for temporary teachers expire at the end of a term but were previously renewable at the provincial education office at the beginning of each new term.

However, with the directive from the Ministry of Finance, the teachers could not resume duties as their status has to be regularised, a process which might take long.

Schools opened for the final term of the year on Tuesday.

District and provincial education directors have informed untrained teachers to wait until the Public Service Commission clarifies their status with Treasury.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) chief executive Sifiso Ndlovu confirmed that thousands of temporary teachers, who form the bulk of staff in rural areas, had not been re-engaged for the new term.

“About 25 000 teachers mostly from the rural communities are affected by the ruling made by Treasury,” he said.

Ndlovu said if the directive from Treasury was not reversed, education would be compromised. “Government should do something because teachers are the key to economic recovery,” he said.

According to ZIMTA, the teacher to pupil ratio currently stands at 1 to 40. “With the disengagement of temporary teachers, we are moving towards a ratio of 1 to 70,” said Ndlovu.

Both Education Minister David Coltart and his permanent secretary Stephen Mahere could not be reached for comment on the matter.

However, Public Service Deputy Minister Andrew Langa confirmed that temporary teachers had not been engaged for this term.

“Treasury should have at least consulted stakeholders in the education sector,” he said.

Langa said such a directive would derail the reforms in the education sector.

“Obviously this will cripple our education sector,” he said. “As a Member of the House of Assembly in a rural constituency I am really concerned.”

About 60 percent of teachers in rural areas are not qualified.

Education experts say Zimbabwe needs 120 000 trained teachers for effective teaching in schools but the country only has about 90,000 teachers available and a huge chunk of them untrained.

The bulk of the country’s best trained teachers – just like other professionals such as bankers, lawyers, doctors and engineers – fled the country over the past decade of economic and political turmoil going abroad were salaries and conditions of living are better.