10 February 2022
Prosperity Sikhosana
The move by Federation of Zimbabwe Educators Union (FOZEU) declaring that its members will not be reporting for work when schools open for the first term has backfired.
The government has suspended all teachers who did not report for work when schools opened for the first term on the 7th of this month.
Yesterday, this publication carried out a story to the effect that the government has increased the salaries of all civil servants including teachers.
The increment was rejected by all the teacher unions in the country.
A statement released by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, MOPSE, today says,
“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education would like to inform the nation and its valued stakeholders that all officials within the ministry who absented themselves from duty since the official opening of schools on the 7th have been suspended without pay forthwith, for a period of three months.”
The statement states that investigations are taking place and stakeholders are advised not to interfere with any evidence or matter relating to their “misconduct”.
After investigations, appropriate action will be taken against members who “abrogate their duties and responsibilities.”
This comes after the government responded to incapacitation reasons by teachers for not returning to class by injecting a salary increase of 20% with a host of other non monetary benefits which was rejected by teachers.
Announcing on Monday, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Mthuli Ncube stated that a 20% salary increase plus US$100 Covid-19 allowance in hard currency for every civil servant will be effected from March.
The 20% increase is backdated to January.
Also included were non monetary benefits such as payment of up to three children’s school fees per teaching family totalling ZWL$20 000 each.
The government further promised to construct 34 000 housing units over a five year period as institutional accommodation, including critical amenities for teachers within school premises.
Teachers were also promised transport that will ferry them in both rural and urban areas.
However, this was not well received by teachers who threatened to “continue with the movement” of not attending classes.
They demand a salary of US$540 which on the contrary has been increased to US$175.
Already the Ministry of Education is facing a shortage of teachers as some left for better paying jobs. The government had announced an augumentation of 10 000 more teachers to cover the gap, but before the recruitment exercise all striking teachers have been suspended.
The education system has been heavily affected by the emergence of the Corona Virus pandemic with pupils losing a lot of classroom time.
Parents had hoped that with the downgrading of level 2 Lockdown which allowed the opening of normal schooling, children would return to class.
This is not so.
The government continues to look aside when the plight of its citizenry plunges deeper into oblivion.
It is a fact that the salaries of all civil servants has been seriously eroded by inflation, and the current increase does nothing to improve the livelihoods of government employees.
School children continue to suffer the brunt of the war between the government and its employees.
Its true therefore that when two elephants fight, the grass withers.
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