Bickering Puts Damper on new School Term

The Standard
By Caiphas Chimhete
13 September 2009

Zimbabwe’s long-suffering school children are once again caught in the war of attrition between the country’s political rivals. An estimated 80% of schools remained shut when the crucial third term began a fortnight ago after the biggest union, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) called for a national job boycott.

Zimta says it is not happy that the seven-month old inclusive government has failed to improve on the US$155 salaries it started giving teachers in July.

However, Zimta’s cause has been discredited by the decision by small unions, the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Union (ZTU) not to take part in the strike.

The two unions say Zimta, which enjoyed good relations with President Robert Mugabe’s previous administration is being used by Zanu PF elements desperate to discredit the inclusive government.

Education officials last week said the unions’ positions regarding the on-going strike were shaped more by their political inclination than by the desire to see the plight of teachers being addressed.

Hopes for the revival of the sector had been pinned on the inclusive government but such optimism is being dampened by the unions’ endless fights.

This, the officials said, is being worsened by the fact that the inclusive government is broke and the critical shortage of teachers, most of whom skipped the country for better salaries.

“The bickering by the unions mirrors the internal strife in the inclusive government,” said one official who requested anonymity.

The once “docile” Zimta seems to have suddenly found its voice following the formation of the inclusive government in February.

It says 80% of schools in the country are closed because of the strike.

Surprisingly the usually militant PTUZ, which widely is seen as sympathetic to MDC-T led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has urged its members to ignore the strike.

The union says it cannot be used to fight a war “that is not ours”.

“We want government to understand that teachers’ concerns are genuine but we are not going to accept to bring back the anarchy and chaos of yesteryear under the guise of trade unionism,” said PTUZ secretary general Raymond Majongwe.

He denies being an “auxiliary” of any political party but sees a hidden hand in the on-going strike.
Until last term, the militant PTUZ had been leading crippling teachers’ strikes.

“This strike is not a strike. Look at what is happening and you will see a hidden hand. We cannot be part it,” he declared.

The PTUZ claims that it received reports that Zimta officials were distributing circulars countrywide urging teachers to go on strike using Mahindra and CAM vehicles without registration number plates.

The same types of vehicles were used by state security agents in last year’s violent elections in which at least 200 MDC activists were murdered.

The militant union also claimed that Zimta officials, working in cahoots with rowdy war veterans, were chasing away teachers who are reporting for work, particularly in the rural areas.

The Standard heard that teachers are being told to go on strike or “else we will do what we did to you last year”.

Several teachers were brutally assaulted for allegedly supporting the MDC last year.

“Where was Zimta when teachers were being butchered in last year’s violent elections? Where was Zimta when teachers were earning R2 a month?” questioned Majongwe.

But Zimta acting chief executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu dismissed claims that his union was fighting a Zanu PF cause.

“It’s an unfounded statement, unfortunate and scandalous,” Ndlovu said.

Ndlovu said Zimta, formed in 1942 before the birth of Zanu PF 21 years later, was “genuinely representing the interests” of teachers.

Teachers earn US$150 a month. They want their salaries to match the poverty datum line (PDL) estimated at about US$500 a month.

“This is a bread and butter issue which has nothing to do with the MDC or Zanu PF,” Ndlovu said. “Such statements from our colleagues are meant to distract us from solving real issues affecting teachers.”

Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) director Alouis Chaumba believes the strike was being sponsored by people determined to see the collapse of the inclusive government.

“I believe someone is fuelling this,” he said. “I smell a rat. There are people throwing spanners in the works of the new government.”

But he could not give names.

Contacted for comment Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Senator David Coltart referred The Standard to a letter he wrote to Zimta and copied to all unions on next week’s National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC) meeting.

In the letter Coltart said: “It is of deep concern to me that the strike has not ended yet.

“I am increasingly concerned about the deleterious consequences for children, especially those writing public examinations in the next few weeks.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said while it was cognizant of the teachers’ plight, it was essential to put the interests of children first.

“While as Unicef we fully respect the need for teachers to be paid a living wage, we are very conscious of the fact that the last academic year was lost and we call upon all partners to put the best interests of children first,” said Unicef representative in Zimbabwe, Peter Salama in a statement.

The fund dismissed reports that it intended to directly provide teachers with a salary package of any sort.
Parents last week lambasted teachers for putting their interests ahead of children’s future.

Amon Sigauke, whose son is in Form IV at a school in Marondera, said teachers were being inconsiderate.
“Every other civil servant is getting such little amounts of money because the government has no money. Why do teachers want to be special and get much more?” Sigauke said.

Chaumba urged teachers to return to work in the interests of children who are supposed to write end-of-year of examination in November.

“They are demanding from a source that cannot produce it,” he said.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said the government has no money to increase teachers’ salaries before the end of the year.

Last year, at the height of the country’s political problems educationists say children spent an average of 22 days at schools due to the intermittent strikes.