The Chronicle
By Midlands Correspondent
12 July 2012
TEACHERS’ unions have strongly condemned Minister David Coltart’s pronouncement that his ministry would prosecute teachers who conduct private lessons for a fee.
In interviews, representatives of different teachers’ unions said the Government should first address the teachers’ plight before it descends on teachers conducting commercial private lessons.
They said the Government should work on scrapping the teachers’ incentives by paying the educators a “reasonable†amount as monthly salaries before taking the decision to ban paid-for private lessons.
Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) chief executive officer Mr Sifiso Ndlovu said prosecuting teachers for conducting private lessons at a fee could have “some boomerang effects†as many educators could end up quitting the civil service to join private colleges.
“The issue of teachers conducting private lessons and that of banning unregistered private colleges cannot be solved through legal routes as long as the teachers are getting meagre salaries as is the situation at the moment. Firstly, the Government should understand that the teachers are not conducting these private lessons out of will but are trying to make ends meet,†said Mr Ndlovu.
Mr Ndlovu said the Government could have shot itself in the foot when it “legalised†incentives as the issue of paying incentives was closely linked with that of private lessons.
He said although incentives were divisive as they mainly catered for the urban teacher, scrapping the teacher incentives without addressing the issue of salaries was suicidal.
“Minister (David) Coltart cannot talk of prosecuting teachers who conduct commercial private lessons now unless if he is suffering from visionary illness. He together with officials in the Ministry of Education offices made a big mistake when they legalised the issue of teachers’ incentives through circular Number Five of 2009. After they legalised incentives, they cannot talk of stopping private lessons, just like that,†he said.
Mr Ndlovu said teachers were driven by desperation in their conducting private lessons, not greediness.
“Nowadays teachers cannot afford to go on holidays. Instead of taking their families on holiday, teachers have been turned into nannies, taking care of other people’s children in the form of private lessons. It’s, however, a shame that Government is not looking into the fundamentals that would address the teachers’ poverty for good and is busy focusing on what we believe are trivial issues,†he said.
Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe, (PTUZ) secretary-general Mr Raymond Majongwe said prosecuting teachers for conducting private lessons would be like prosecuting a Government medical doctor for running a private surgery.
“What the Government is proposing is not feasible. Minister Coltart should understand that teachers as professionals have the right to do business in line with their profession outside Government duties. Prosecuting teachers for conducting private lessons would be tantamount to prosecuting a Government-attached doctor for running a private surgery. We will take the Government head-on in that regard,†he said.
Mr Majongwe reiterated the need for the Government to urgently look into the teachers’ welfare.
“It is shocking that the same senior Government officials who are denouncing teachers for conducting commercial private lessons are the ones running some of the private colleges in the country, which are sprouting in every city and town while tapping the human resource from the same underpaid teachers. It’s a shame that we teachers have been relegated to mere citizens who could be tossed around by those with capitalistic minds,†he said.