Harare — THE government says it will closely watch moves by South Africa to recruit Zimbabwean science and mathematics teachers before it can respond.

"There is no country in the world which can just say take all these teachers, especially science and maths teachers, who are in demand. We will however wait for South Africa to make a formal request then we can respond accordingly. So far no communication has taken place," the Deputy Minister of Education, Sport and Culture, Isaiah Shumba said in an interview.

The minister said Zimbabwe cannot afford to continue training professionals for other countries.

"It is a brain drain and we cannot afford to continue like this. Movements are not strange, it's common for people to seek greener pastures, they go to China, Australia, South Africa and many other countries. It's a pattern. But I don't see an easy way of stopping them because in any case they will move," said Shumba.

"We are however trying to improve their working conditions since we would also like to retain this critical manpower," he said.

The South African government has already made it clear that it wants to recruit Zimbabwean teachers to boost its professional base in the two subjects, a move expected to improve pass rates.

The South African Education Minister, Naledi Pandor, told the South African press last week of the intended move.

This attracted a barrage of criticism from workers' unions in South Africa, accusing the country of exploiting the situation in Zimbabwe by offering higher salaries and better working conditions.

The government is believed to be mulling plans to bar migrating teachers from rejoining the service if they consider coming back home.

But Shumba denied this. "I don't think it is government policy but we would encourage them to stay and help develop the education of the country."

According to the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Zimbabwe lost 4 000 teachers to neighbouring countries such as South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia in 2005 alone. An estimated 4 800 teachers left the country last year.

Many Zimbabwean teachers have been leaving the country in search of better salaries and working conditions. Teachers are among a band of poorly paid professionals in Zimbabwe earning salaries below the poverty datum line.

PTUZ president, Raymond Majongwe, said government must put its act together and stop the flight of teachers.

"We sympathise with the teachers, circumstances are forcing them to go out. But we can not celebrate, all we can do is put pressure on government to improve conditions of service," said Majongwe.