Government, Zimta reach “deadlock”

The Chronicle
Chronicle Reporter
9th September 2009

THE much awaited meeting between the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart and the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) ended in deadlock with either party refusing to give in.

In a telephone interview from Harare last night, Minister Coltart said the leaders of ZIMTA refused to call for the end of the strike while negotiations continued.

However, he described the meeting, which was reportedly boycotted by other teachers’ unions, the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ) as “productive and constructive”.

The teachers’ unions have issued conflicting statements concerning the strike with PTUZ and TUZ saying teachers should go back to work while ZIMTA has been against the idea.

“When people sit down to negotiate there are bound to be differences, we also had our differences. However, I would like to say that the meeting was fruitful as we made a number of resolutions that would be the starting point in our next meeting,” said Minister Coltart.

He could not be drawn into revealing the resolutions. “At the moment I cannot say much as it could jeopardise the negotiations,” said Minister Coltart.

He said he would table the resolutions at a Cabinet meeting as well as discuss the outcome of the meeting with the Ministers of Finance, Tendai Biti and that of Public Service Professor Elphas Mukonoweshuro.

“It would be taken to Cabinet to inform it of the progress that was made during today’s meeting as this would help in making informed decisions as you know that the Government through the Finance Ministry has announced that it has limited financial resources,” said Minister Coltart.

“I believe it would be of paramount importance that Cabinet sits down and deliberate on the resolutions in earnest so that teachers go back to work especially taking into consideration that we are fast approaching the November public examinations period.”

ZIMTA leaders could not be reached for comment last night.

The teachers went on strike when schools opened for the third term on 2 September demanding a review of their salaries and other working conditions. Teachers like most civil servants are earning an average of $155.

ZIMTA, the largest teacher organisation, has proposed that Government re-introduce US$100 allowance and progressively increase the basic salary until it reaches US$500 by December.

In Bulawayo learning has not been taking place with gates at some schools locked.On Monday parents with children at Bulawayo schools said the on-going strike was an indication that the educators were insensitive to the plight of children.

Meanwhile, most schools and examination centres in Bulawayo have stopped registering candidates for the November public examinations despite the fact that the deadline is Friday thereby leaving many students in a quandary.

The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) set this Friday as the deadline for registration but most examination centres in the city stopped the registration exercise on Monday while others stopped yesterday.

Officials from ZIMSEC’s Bulawayo office however told Chronicle that the deadline for payment had not been brought forward.

“The closing date is 11 September, which is Friday. Nothing has changed,” said an official who requested anonymity saying he was not allowed to speak to the Press.

A few examination centres, among them Founders High School, Zimbabwe Distance Education College and Foundation College were still registering candidates yesterday.

“I had to run around to pay the examination fees for my daughter at Townsend High School because the school authorities had set 7 September as the deadline for paying whereas I had budgeted for 11 September. The authorities told me that 11 September was the deadline for the registration papers to reach the ZIMSEC offices, so I had to run around,” said Mrs Miriam Moyo.

A lot of parents were running around this week trying to raise examination fees for their children after realising that a majority of examination centres wanted candidates to be registered early.

This reporter saw several pupils from Foundation College, as well as some external candidates, queuing at the college’s main offices along Herbert Chitepo begging to be registered after 2pm which was the centre’s deadline.

Officials at the schools said they had pushed forward the deadline in order for them to have time to check whether all the candidates had been properly registered while also ensuring that there was adequate time for the registration papers to reach the ZIMSEC offices in Harare.

ZIMSEC set examination at $10 per subject for O-Level candidates and $20 for those sitting for Advanced Levels.