The PTUZ says at least 10 000 teachers have left Zimbabwe in the past three months despite attempts by the government in October to keep them from leaving by hiking their salaries.
The Teachers Union, which recently conducted an audit of teachers in the country, said the exodus was no longer limited to junior to middle-ranking teachers, but has also seen the loss of senior and more experience educationanists.
“By August this year 15 000 teachers had left the country. This number is now 25 000 according to a survey we are conducting nationwide,” said the PTUZ secretary general, Raymond Mojongwe.
Majongwe said the majority of teachers who quit had been absorbed into neighbouring countries such as Botswana, South Africa and Namibia, with many working as labourers on construction sites in South Africa, which is preparing to host the 2010 World Cup tournament.
The Zimbabwean Minister of Education, Aeneas Chigwedere is reported to have told Parliament last week that Harare would approach its southern African neighbours to ask them to stop taking Zimbabwe’s teachers.
Teachers are not the only loss of skills experienced by Zimbabwe. Thousands of skilled professionals have left – including doctors, nurses and engineers – all citing economic reasons for their departure, as well as political repression.
Zimbabwe employs about 108 000 teachers but educationists says the country requires about 120 000 fully qualified teachers to ensure effective teaching in schools.
Estimates put the number of Zimbabweans who have fled the country anything between two and three million. President Robert Mugabe continues to deny that he has mismanaged his rule over the country and the economy, instead apportioning blame for the country’s woes on the doorstep of its former colonial power, Great Britain.Â
Post published in: News