Radiovop
5 July 2009
HURUNGWE- There is been a serious exodus of temporary teachers in Zimbabwe’s Hurungwe rural area following non-payment for the past five months.
The untrained teachers had heeded a call by the government in February and submitted their contract forms at Magunje education offices where they have been gathering dust ever since and were not forwarded to the Salary Service Bureau (SSB).
The various teachers had been deployed in rural schools and were battling to make ends meet.
Teachers in full time employment receive USd 100 allowance from the government which has said it has no money to adequately renumerate them.
Zimbabwe’s coffers are dry following a decade long decay of its economy due to political instability and economic mismanagement. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has just returned from a trip to European Union States and America to raise funds for the country which need about USD 10
billion to revive its economy. Very little, so far has been raised as most countries have demanded a stop to human rights abuses and a return to rule of law before they can committ meaningful support.
Teachers returned to schools when a new unity government was put in place in February following an appeal from Tsvangirai and long discussions with the new Education minister David Coltart who appealed to the teachers to resume work while government sought solutions of how to raise their
salaries.
Schools in Zimbabwe were seriously disrupted last year with teachers attending an average 23 days of work the whole year.
”Initially our contract forms were just for a month until it was reversed to three months covering the whole term and we have been battling to have them submitted to Harare SSB for payment with education officials at Magunje blocking our efforts” said a temporary teacher who has since given
up to remain in the remote area of Kazangarare.
The teachers accused the district education officer Muchineripi Ndewere of not acting on their contract forms with urgency.
Ndewere refused to comment over the issue when contacted referring Radio VOP to provincial education officer Sylvester Mashayamombe who only said, ”Mashonaland West has enough qualified teachers”.
However teachers within Hurungwe gave a different accounts of the reality on the ground with Dete primary school being understaffed by 15 teachers.
”There are many schools that do not have adequate teaching staff but Hurungwe education officers are bungling over the contract forms and this will affect the enrollment of children. It’s unfortunate the officials believe those teachers who went out of the country will return soon with such unprofessionalism at Magunje education offices,” said another frustrated teacher from Mjinga area.