QUESTION MARKS??: Teachers, Government Deadlock: Who Is Fooling Who?

Will life in schools ever be normal? Are teachers returning to school? Will exams be written? Are teachers unions holding Government to ransom? Will Government relent and pay the US$520 that teachers are demanding or will it go ahead and replace the professionals with trainees? Are temporary teachers the solution or should all education be privatised?

The questions are many, and the situation affects everyone. So what should be done?

Background
Recently, Government announced that schools were set to reopen and this was met with relief by parents that were getting increasingly apprehensive over the educational welfare of their children, particularly the exam classes.

But then, come opening day, Monday September 28, teachers did not show up in the classroom.

Then came Thursday’s announcement by the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services that teachers would begin accessing their 40 percent cushioning allowance today (Friday October 2), of course, as an incentive to get them back in front of pupils, but they laughed it off.

Previously, Government had announced that it had a “standby force” of not less than 10 000 unemployed teachers and several thousands more still in training ready to take over, but that did not move the teachers either.

It is drama everywhere, except it is not funny, these are people’s livelihoods and pupils’ future being decided by rolling the dice.

Are Teachers Returning To School?
“All struggles need a high degree of discipline by participants and our members must stop going to school to log-in and go home. An incapacitated teacher cannot report for work, neither can he/she log in. Let the statistics indicate the high levels of incapacitation that must surely prod officials into action,” Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) President Dr Takavafira Zhou said.

“Our struggle must continue to gather momentum and soon reach a decisive moment when no teacher at best, or one teacher at worst, turns up at a school.”

On the other hand, Government is making efforts for teachers to get back to the classroom and start teaching but the educators remain defiant until all their demands are met.

Teachers have declared incapacitation citing starvation wages, failure to implement sector specific allowances, lack of prioritisation of teachers and pupils’ health and safety, and therefore experimenting with lives of teachers and students.

To buttress their incapacitation point, they have pointed out that they earn Z$3 500 (roughly US$42) per month, that inflation is hovering above 700 percent and electricity has gone up 100 percent over the last week.

So, are teachers correct in refusing to go to school? Should they not consider the plight of children?
“To expect us to provide a service that our own children cannot access by virtue of our poverty and inability to pay exorbitant fees now ranging between $25 000 and $60 000 is to heap burning coals upon our heads,” the teachers argue.

They say they care for the children but their minds need to be nourished in order to work properly thus their cry for remuneration that caters for their well-being as they need enough funds to pay for food, shelter and transport.

They insist that they have rights enshrined in the Constitution that permit them to peacefully demonstrate and petition, hence their calls through this provision needs to be respected and attended to expeditiously.

The teachers are also bitter about school heads who behave as if they are not incapacitated and own schools, and are busy threatening or harassing teachers and insulting unions.

Are parents happy about this?
“Teachers need the support and full solidarity of parents so that they dedicate their time on the kids. I humbly ask for parents to support the teachers’ cause,” PTUZ secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said.

Some teachers are parents, and as both a parent and a teacher, would want the best for their children.

Parents are not happy to pay school fees that goes to waste. Teachers have since advised parents that they are not turning up for work until further notice. Incapacitation and inadequate Covid-19 abatement equipment make up the backbone of their argument as they say it is dangerous to send children to such institutions.

Teachers state that they are fully committed to teach students but are perturbed by the current school environment that is not suitable for effective learning and teaching. However, they promise to resume their duties once the operational environment is improved by Government.

“Is the parent ministry paying attention?”
“The voice of teachers is now the voice of anguish and the sooner Government addresses their legitimate demands, the better. Until government finds a panacea to our legitimate demands our only way forward would be going forward with the incapacitation struggle,” Dr Zhou said.

The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Cain Mathema is in a quandary. Those under his purview are making remuneration improvement demands but he is not the holder of that purse.

It is the ministry of Finance and Economic Development under the leadership of Professor Mthuli Ncube that knows and decides whether or not to pay.

Mathema tabled his problems before Treasury, but the purse holder is having none of it. He has opted for a $2 500 top up, which teachers is “callous, degrading and a monument of unfair labour practice”.

Threats: What Action Is Government Taking?
Besides topping up salaries, Government appears to have a more convenient plan by taking advantage of the desperate unemployed teachers.

But is this wise? Pursuing this solution can be disastrous in the long run chiefly because those temporary teachers would need time to assess every student’s strengths and weaknesses before certifying candidates ready for exams.

Those in exam classes have a history with their teachers and offering them new tutors could affect their performance.

New methods of teaching could also affect them and to make matters worse government has just adopted a new curriculum, which overwhelmed experienced teachers, what more temporary teachers who lack the experience? Nhau/Indaba