Sunday News
10 January 2010
By Vusumuzi Dube and Bhekizulu Tshuma
SALARY negotiations between Government and representatives of Government workers including teachers are going on well and an announcement is imminent regarding the new pay structure for the civil service, a Cabinet minister has said.
In an interview ahead of the opening of schools last Tuesday, the Minister of Public Service, Professor Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, said the talks were going on well and an announcement would to be made soon on the new salary structure.
“As it is, we are still negotiating and there are no problems so far. As soon as the necessary deliberations are made and upon reaching an agreement we will then make an announcement on the agreed amounts of salaries,’’ he said by telephone from Harare.
Teachers, who earn US$150 per month, have demanded a review of their salaries but have ruled out a strike saying they want to give the negotiations a chance to yield the desired results.
The chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, Mr Sifiso Ndlovu, said they were not considering the option of a strike as negotiations were still ongoing with the Government on the issue of salaries.
“As an association we are negotiating in good faith with the Government on the issue of salaries and we will map a way forward only when the talks are completed,’’ said Mr Ndlovu.
The teachers, who number 90 000, are demanding US$600 per month and if Government accedes to their request, this would translate to more than US$55 million, which is half the country’s monthly total tax revenue.
Meanwhile, parents are set to continue providing incentives to teachers but school authorities have been advised to be cautious in the manner in which they draw up the incentives.
Incentives were introduced last year with parents required to pay teachers a certain amount to help boost their monthly earnings. However there were reports that some schools were abusing the facility by overcharging parents with some asking for as much as US$20 per month per child.
Parents and guardians appealed to the Government to urgently address the situation to bring an end to the issue as in most cases defaulters were being sent home or not allowed to attend classes.
In an interview, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said incentives were set to continue but Government had come up with a tighter legal framework to help manage school authorities.
Senator Coltart urged school authorities to involve parents in coming up with incentives to avoid abuse of the facility.
He said his ministry would ensure that school authorities complied with the stipulated regulations on incentives as most of them had in the past abused the system.
“What should be noted is that the country has stipulated regulations governing the issue of levies and our call to school authorities is for them to stick to those regulations,’’ said Senator Coltart.
The minister said they were working on reviewing the education laws of the country with the hope of making the collection of levies more transparent and accountable.
“Until such a time, school authorities must ensure that parents are engaged when drawing up incentives, notice of meetings should be made on time and the meetings should constitute a quorum of 20 percent,’’ the minister said.
He said Government in the long run was aiming at scrapping incentives as they had created inequalities in the education system as well as creating tension between teachers and parents but he noted that there was a danger that if they were cut off, there would be a massive exodus of the teaching staff.
In a related development, Zimta has reiterated that it does not want incentives as they are a simple excuse for them not to get reasonable salaries.
The Zimta CEO said it was high time the Government adopted a one off payment system for teachers.
“As teachers we are not happy about these incentives as they do not add up to our salaries, teachers need other allowances like medical, housing or transport and this should be urgently looked into,’’ Mr Ndlovu said.
He said incentives caused divisions among the teachers with those in rural areas getting less than their counter parts teaching at up market schools.