At a heated meeting at Tsvangirai’s Munhumutapa offices officials from
the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) and the Progressive Teachers
Association of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) outlined their demands to the head of
government.
The teachers did not back down on the US$2 300 for the least paid
employee while they stuck to their guns on the issue of allowances.
The teachers also took a swipe at parents and School Development
Associations (SDAs) for striking deals that undermined the
responsiblity of the government to pay its workers saying the SDAs
should concerntrate on developing schools and stop playing the role of
pay master.
"Our meeting with the Prime Minister was about the opening and
re-opening of schools," said Richard Gundane, ZIMTA’s secretary
general. "We identified factors that militate against the opening of
schools and top on that list was the issue of salaries to capacitate
taechers to go to work and have a meaningful life style."
Gundane said the Prime Minister ackowledged that school can’t be said
to have opened under such circumstances where most of them are manned
by skeletal staff.
"The Prime Minister acknowlegded our plight and was very sympathetic to it,"
Gundane said.
He said there were commitments made, the first being the official and
proper re-opening of schools and tertiary institutions with a full
complement of teachers and lecturers.
This reconstruction of the education system is meant to kick off
immediately to save the education sector from total collapse and
millions of children from being robbed off their right to education.
Gundane said it was agreed at the meeting that the new Finance Minister
Tendai Biti would soon unveil a stimulus package in foreign currency
which would be passed on to the new Minister of Education David Coltart
for operationalisation.
This stimulus package is meant to assit teachers in preparing to return to work.
"We agreed that the 2009 first term has not yet opened earnest and that
a new calender be drawn up," Gundane said. "The dates are not yet
agreed upon, but this would have to be done through the new Minister of
Education."
Other factors that militated against the proper opening of schools are
the outstanding Grade 7, Ordinary and Advanced Level results from
Zimsec and the non cooperation by the previous administration to commit
themselves to anything since there was no substantive government.
Zimta has failed to release these result because teachers refused to mark the examination papers in return for peanuts.
"It was the view of the meeting that the papers be attended to and the
results immediately released to facilitate for the transition of
schoolchilden and students from one level to the another," Gundane
said. "It is critical that this is done."
He added that those already going to school after their parents struck deals with the SDAs will be affected by the new calender.
"As far as we are concerned schools have not yet opened," Gundane added.
"Money collected by the SDAs is not guided by government policy so it
is illegal what they are doing. This is clear interference in labour
relations.
SDAs should not take the government’s responsibilities. It should not
be allowed to happen because thsi has caused disharmony and distortions
in our salary structures."
Gundane said the meeting closed by proposing and agreeing that a summit
on education should be held to look into issues of teachers and how
their schools are performing or not performing.
The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister and his two deputies
Arthur Mutambara and Thokozani Khupe, teachers’ representatives from
ZIMTA and PTUZ, the Prime Minister’s security chiefs and his
spokesperson James Maridadi.
Maridadi confirmed the deliberations. Meanwhile, the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that the country requires at least
US$80 million ro revive the collapsed education sector as most teachers
have fled in search for greener pastures.
Most have gone to neighbouring South Africa where about 90 000 teachers
are needed. UNICEF said the attendance rate last year was appalling
with only 20 percent of Zimbabwe’s schoolchildren completing their
third term while a lot of time was lost on teacher boycotts.
This year schools were meant to open on January 13, but the pathetic
state of the education sector forced President Robert Mugabe’s then
government to push the date forward to January 27 citing unfinished
business.
Even though, there was no hope that schools would re-open on that day.
When they did, there was skeletal staff in all government schools while the private schools operated as usual.
Post published in: News