Kids fail as teachers leave

With the second school term about to begin, the staff shortage is expected to have serious consequences. PTUZ provincial co-coordinator, Munyaradzi Chauke, said teachers were starting to seek the greener pastures of other countries after the government had failed to fulfil their promises of salary increases. “We have discovered that over 1 200 teachers have left the profession in a very short space of time. During this holiday alone, a number of teachers have quit citing low salaries,” said Chauke.

Zimbabwean teachers are getting paid about US$150, and their cries to have their salaries increased to US$ 600 have fallen on deaf ears as the government battles with cash constraints. The recent move by Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, to freeze the teachers salaries was the straw that broke the camels back for many teachers. “Teachers are saying their salary is not enough to keep them going to work. The salary freeze announced by the Finance Minister (Tendai Biti) recently worsened the situation,” said Chauke. According to the co-ordinator schools are going to be very short staffed when they re-open this week. “We urge the ministry to prepare for a big problem,” she said.

PTUZ president, Takavafira Zhou, said the ministry was going to suffer a hard blow when they discovered the rate at which teachers were abandoning the profession. Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister Stan Mudenge dropped the bomb that about 90 000 Zimbabwean students failed to sit for ‘A’ level exams in 2009 due to high examination fees. Mudenge, who is also Zanu (PF)’s national secretary for external affairs, blamed the so-called sanctions from the West for the problem. Last year, more than 100 schools from Masvingo province recorded a zero

percent pass rate in the A level exams. Teachers’ unions blamed the poor showing to the teachers’ strike, low salaries as well as the political violence that saw many teachers seeking sanctuary elsewhere. Education minister David Coltart said Zimbabwe had recorded the worst O level results since independence in 1980 with a pass rate of 19 percent.