Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe decry eroding salaries for teachers
Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) said here Sunday the monthly salaries of teachers had been eroded to US$30 due to the adverse economic environment.
Artuz said these earnings were from around US$500 earned around the same time frame last year.
The erosion is due to the failing local currency that has led to prices of basic goods and services being hiked to preserve value, contributing to a monthly cost of living of between US$150 and US$200.
"The erosion of teacher salaries from around US$500 to the current US$30 relegated teachers to extreme poverty subsequently compromising their capacity to deliver quality service. This compounded onto the other traditional challenges such as infrastructure deficits, inadequacy/unavailability of learning materials and high teacher learner ratio, among others. Our education sector is in distress," Artuz said in a statement.
"The salary erosion triggered a prolonged labour dispute between teachers and their employer. For the better part of the term, teachers were either on strike or threatening to embark on one. Learners were therefore either left unattended or partly attended to by a highly demoralized teaching personnel. If the value of our salaries is not restored, our education will remain trapped in this Siberia."
The statement comes as schools are expected to close on 8 August, this week, which will mark the end of the second school term in Zimbabwe.
During the second term, teachers held two major strikes. One from 3 - 5 June, and another on 22 July that saw schools largely remain closed for that week as teachers protested for better remunerations.
"The heavy handedness response of the state and the cheering on of government sweetheart Unions never deterred the teachers from organizing for action. A lot of teachers got Unionized this term and thousands dumped the failed state sponsored projects which pretend to be Unions," Artuz said.
"The revolutionary fire which is sweeping across our schools gives us hope, that one day the teacher’s voice shall prevail. The notion that teachers are cowards has been defied and will forever be defied."
Artuz said during salary negotiations with government in the current school term, they accused the APEX council, the workers union responsible for civil servants, of complicity with government in not meeting their demands.
The teachers struggles come as custodians of the sector were exposed as having embezzled funds meant for procuring learning material and further abusing scarce resources in a Zimsec printing scam.
According to the Auditor General's 2018 report on state enterprises and parastatals, US$6 million meant for procuring text books for the new curriculum this year was diverted.
Another US$2 million was blown by Zimsec for outsourcing printing facilities despite having fully functioning machines.
Zimsec is an autonomous parastatal under the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and is responsible for primary and secondary education in Zimbabwe.
-0- PANA TZ/RA 4Aug2019