SW Radio Africa
By Lance Guma
8 January 2010
Teachers have threatened to go on strike if their salaries are not raised to US$600 per month from the current US$150. The President of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) Takavafira Zhou said their members would not turn up for work next week if they received no clarification on how much they will be earning. Ever since Finance Minister Tendai Biti presented his budget in December last year, there has been no word on how much teachers would earn.
Zhou said they had given the inclusive government enough time to work on their remuneration and expected their salaries to at least match the poverty datum line which he said was US$600. The school term begins next week on Tuesday but again like most school openings over the past years it is not clear whether the teachers will report for duty because of the pay dispute. Zhou said they had to issue the strike threat to ensure government dealt with their plight.
PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe slammed the government’s attitude ‘of behaving like Father Christmas and just give us the salaries they want to,’ without consulting them. ‘If we are the recipients of the salaries why should they be hidden from us,’ he added. He said they expected government to prove they were serious about the plight of teachers in the country. Majongwe said as government revenues rise, they expected an improvement in their working conditions.
The larger Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) has meanwhile said it is seeking a meeting with government officials next week. They want the issue of salaries, and the grading system that will also determine salary structures, to be clarified. Education Minister David Coltart is quoted as saying he did not know how much the teachers would be earning and referred questions on the matter to Finance Minister Biti.
Coltart meanwhile announced that he wants to set up 20 academic centres of excellence this year to cater for bright but disadvantaged children who will receive full scholarships. In an interview with the weekly Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, Coltart said that two centres would be established in each province and these will have the best education facilities. The idea he said was to bridge the gap between government and private education. Coltart also said he planned on setting up 20 primary academic centres in 2011 followed later by vocational centres for the non-academic students.
Responding to the scheme Majongwe said it was a noble idea but would not work if the Minister did not engage all the stakeholders. Several things had to be clarified, such as how the beneficiaries would be identified. He said so far none of the teaching unions had been consulted on the idea and how it would be implemented. Majongwe also said in the past such scholarship funds had been abused to benefit people aligned to certain politicians or political parties.