Government, teachers strike pay deal

Herald                       

Wednesday, 28 September 2011 

By Felex Share 

GOVERNMENT and teachers’ unions met in Harare yesterday and agreed that parents and guardians continue paying  incentives to the educators until a solution is hammered.

The two parties agreed to convene an urgent all-stakeholders’ conference to determine whether or not to entirely abolish the incentives. The conference is slated for October 18.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart said incentives were a “necessary evil” that needed “multi-faceted solutions”.

“Our intention is to scrap them because they are divisive and discriminatory, but this has to be in a manner that does not disrupt the education sector,” he said.

“This is a complex issue and we have to bring in other stakeholders like the Ministry of Finance, school heads, School Development  Associations and parents to see what can be done.”

He said if incentives were to continue in urban schools, his ministry would call for the reintroduction of allowances for rural teachers.

“This is the only way that we can have equity between the rural and the urban folk. This is another reason for including the Finance Ministry. We have to agree on mechanisms that make the system equitable and transparent,” he said.

Teachers’ unions had gone into yesterday’s meeting demanding the immediate scrapping of the incentives.

They blamed Minister Coltart for consulting them at the last minute. The unions said the minister was “using them” to find a solution to problems he created.

Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Mr Raymond Majongwe said they were in a “dicey situation” but would lobby for the removal of the incentives.

“We have agreed to this arrangement in the interest of normalcy in our schools. Hopefully, the forthcoming meeting would provide us with a way to manoeuvre out of this mess.

Incentives must go, say teachers’ unions

“We must have one employer, which is Government and we have agreed to consult so that we do not shortchange parents, pupils and teachers,” he said.

Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Manuel Nyawo said while there were divisions within unions, a “win-win” situation had to be found.

“We have realised that it is also dangerous to scrap them now. There has been pandemonium among the union leaders, but I don’t think this is the right time to scrap them off,” he said.

Mr Nyawo said the unions blamed the ministry for failing to consult them when the incentives were introduced.