At Oshakati, teachers criticised what they referred to as an unfair and unacceptable selective teacher recruitment process, an exercise in which they spend money to apply for jobs with no success.
The demonstrators who delivered their petition to the Oshana Education Directorate and the Chief Regional Officer of the Oshana Regional Council are demanding the abolition of job interviews.
They claim that the current system is riddled with nepotism, favouritism and corruption, alleging that questions are sometimes leaked to selected candidates.
They argued that unfair interviews have created a barrier for unemployed capable teachers who are left jobless despite their qualifications.
"We have engaged the ministry at a regional and national level across the country, including the director's office, on the alarming statistics of unemployed graduates, which were at 8,251 from 2017 to 2023, and the number is expected to rise with an estimated addition of over 3,000 graduates countrywide. Looking at 2024 and 2025 graduates, the statistics will be more than 15,000 unemployed teachers," explained Marian Kambonde, the chairperson of the Oshana Unemployed Qualified Teachers.
The graduates say they have spent money on printing copies and submitting job applications without success.
"Many of our members are subjected to extreme hardships during interview processes. Candidates are forced to sleep at service stations due to a lack of money to get better accommodation. Others travel long distances to attend interviews with no certainty of success."
Teachers are urging the government to consider mass recruitment across the regions to address the growing number of unemployed graduates in the educator sector.
"We urge the ministry to consider our petition with the seriousness it deserves and take swift action to improve the recruitment process. We are giving the Ministry of Education 72 hours while waiting for the respond. If a response is not given, we will camp at the Ministry of Education in Windhoek until we get positive answers."
The Chief Regional Officer of Oshana Regional Council, Teopolina Hamutumua, promised to forward their petition to the relevant authorities.