The Coronavirus situation in Zimbabwe was a huge set back for students as schools were momentarily closed. During that time, the responsible authorities were still figuring out a safe way to reopen amidst the pandemic crisis. However, most exams were still on for exam candidates so naturally parents resorted to extra lessons. It would now seem that extra lessons will be forced to come to a halt.
Several teachers’ unions in Zimbabwe have now implored their members to stop conducting these extra lessons. This is because they deem that extra lessons add an unnecessary burden on the parents to pay teachers. It was emphasised that teachers should look solely to the government for payment as it is the its responsibility to ensure that teachers are paid.
Goodwill Taderera, Zimbabwe Teachers Union (ZTU) secretary general, told the media that parents were being robbed of their hard earned money by these extra lessons. Therefore stopping extra lessons would serve to protect these parents.
The chief executive of the Zimbabwe National Teachers Union (ZNTU) supported Taderera’s point and reiterated that the teacher’s salary burden should not be placed on parents but their employer, the government.
However, some citizens have expressed that this might not be as feasible as they think it is. This is because most children have been left far behind due to the long hiatus from school caused by the Covid-19 situation and therefore need the catch up.
In addition to the hiatus, teachers have expressed dissatisfaction over the wages the government gives them stating that they are not enough to cover even the bare necessities. We covered those grievances in a previous article here.
Given the aforementioned circumstances, it would seem that neither the parents, children or teachers will benefit from the banning of extra lessons. So who is benefiting?
What are your thoughts?
Let us know in the comment section below.
1 comment
Comments are closed.