TOP government officials are promising fair play as the government lines up advertisements for recruiting 37,616 teachers, health practitioners and employees in various other public service spheres.

The Public Service Management and Good Governance wing of the President’s Office issued this assurance only days ago.

It hinted that job vacancies in the education (teaching), health, accounting, supply and other sectors are being advertised.

Making eligible individuals apply for the jobs will add a competition element in how the vacancies are filled, to which the ministry asserts that the process will be characterised by fair play at all levels right to the very end.

There is little point dwelling on issues like how far a level playing ground can be assured for applicants, that no favouritism will be applied to get the ‘chosen few’.

In any case, no outline has been issued on any such formula except the solemn word that those concerned would see to it that transparency would be observed.

In that all governance levels must be staffed with people who have their urges and preferences, just like everyone else, the issue is the overall problem of vacancies – or unemployment.

There is a shift in the way employment is being arranged and it is a plausible proposition that it can go a notch further down in line with the changing trends.

The point is that teaching vacancies already announced by the Public Service Recruitment Secretariat at the regional level are being tied to the needs of each region in proportion to the number of placements the government is ready to fund.

As the standing need for teachers stood at 166,000 roundabout two years ago, and there are fewer than 20,000 vacancies for teaching in the current scenario, it is clear that the change will be slight. Still, it will doubtless ease the difficulties.

The more vital statistic was the seeming despair at the ministerial level on how to handle the placements. This is because there are far fewer teaching job vacancies compared to the number of primary and secondary school teachers graduating from various colleges.

There are over 100,000 teachers currently unemployed, at least going by a deputy minister’s recent remarks, as that round figure is unlikely to have been attained over the past financial year.

Thus, there is a rough comparison between vacancies in public schools and the number of unemployed graduates along with diploma or certificate holders.

The government has moved to advertising to promote competition in recruitment, thus presumably ensuring that all those qualified can land jobs in their local area without having to travel to Dodoma or Dar es Salaam for interviews.

There is marginal relief in reducing the bureaucratic chicanery, but not on the side of likely placements, or indeed who shall win, as life is more about luck and blessings than it is about merit, even as these aspects matter a lot as well.

What is now envisaged is a localised selection of those to be employed, with everyone employed by the government fitting into a specific minimum wage structure and benefits associated with the respective status and the vast majority remaining unemployed.

Accordingly, it is in a sense appropriate to try a minimum of self-reliance, where schools are handed over to private sector players who will hopefully sink in hefty amounts of money.

There would be provisions for extensive subsidies where, for instance, girls would be exempted from fees. Teachers can be paid user wages; all wages would come down, to ensure places are filled.

But this is more conjecture than reality, though it is not an impossible situation. To plan is to choose.