Primary and secondary education minister Evelyn Ndlovu recently announced that all teachers that participated in the strike would be suspended without pay for three months.
This announcement came shortly after the government offered a 20% increase on teachers’ salaries which paled in comparison to the 520USD salaries the teachers were asking for. The Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe expressed that this move would affect about 135,000 teachers.
Harare labor law specialist Professor Lovemore Madhuku spoke about the governments’ decision on his Twitter platform and declared it illegal. He went on to say that the minister had no power to suspend the teachers because they were employed by the Public Service Commission (PSC).
The professor went on to say that the PSC also had no right to undertake a mass/blanket suspension. He also encouraged the government to dialogue with Teachers Unions and address issues.
The government has a history of laying out promises and then failing to deliver on said promises. Two of the three teachers unions have declined the 20% increase offer citing that it would on be an increase of about 20USD which will not do the teachers any good. There are fears that even if the government were to succeed by any chance, schools would have to close as the 130,000 suspended teachers out of 150,000 teachers would not be going to work.
Professor Madhuku’s suggestion seems to the only progressive option for both government and the teachers. The two sides would have to sit down and negotiate the terms as the state of the educational system of Zimbabwe depends on it. The time lost in dialogue would definitely be better than having 130,000 teachers being unemployed and also having children stay at their homes and not learn for a further three months.
1 comment
Comments are closed.