The post “Ministry Of Education Has No Power To Suspend Teachers” Says Professor Madhuku appeared first on Provoker Magazine.
]]>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.
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]]>The post Mthuli Dangles Perks For Teachers And Civil Servants, But Is It Enough? appeared first on Provoker Magazine.
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In this latest measure the finance minister is promising civil servants the following:
Monetary Benefits
First on the list is a 20 percent increase in the Zimbabwean dollar salary component backdated to the 1st of January 2022. This means is one was earning 10 000 rtgs they will now be earning 12 000 rtgs.
The government has also added 100USD per month in hard currency to every civil servant with effect from the 1st of March 2022. This will be done through conversion of a corresponding Zimbabwe dollar salary amount into hard currency, bringing the foreign currency amount to 175USD.
Teacher unions last week declared that their members would only resume duties after their employer had acceded to their demand for the pre-October 2018 salary of US$520 or its equivalent in local currency. The offer made by the government is far off from this request.
Non-Monetary Benefits
The government has offered to pay school fees for up to 3 biological children per teaching family, with a cap of 20 000 rtgs per child per term. The fees are to be paid directly to the school. Does this mean that if one is a teacher and looking after children of a deceased family member, those children will not get their fees paid?
The government has also promised to construct 34 000 housing units (2 125 block flats) over a five-year period as institutional accommodation including critical amenities, for teachers within the school premises. This is a way of cutting off transportation as teachers will have no excuses to not be at work.
The provision of transportation to ferry rural and urban teachers is on the list.
The most interesting offers so far are housing loan guarantee schemes and that teachers are to import vehicles duty free. The imported vehicles are not to be disposed of “before the expiry of three years”. This means that if a teacher imports a vehicle they cannot sell the vehicle for the next three years. Firstly, we that know they have increased the salaries of teachers, but is it enough for teachers to get housing loans and import vehicles? Is it even enough to pay rent and buy fuel?
The offers made by government look appealing. They are not entirely what the teachers union asked for (which is 520USD). Besides the 20 percent increase, school fees benefit, 100USD, and transport facility, the rest of the benefits are long term. How does getting a flat after five years help a teacher that is struggling to pay rent now?
Whether the offer made by government will be effective remains unseen. Will these efforts be enough to appease the civil servants?
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]]>The post Teachers go against their word and report for duty in their numbers appeared first on Provoker Magazine.
]]>Fast forward to the resuming of non-exam classes. The teacher turnout was surprisingly high. Information ministry permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana confirmed this development on his Twitter handle, saying:
Zimbabwe’s schools reopened on Monday for non-examination classes with teachers reporting for duty in large numbers while there were few students at most schools.
Gabriel Mhumha, Mashonaland West provincial education director, confirmed the high teacher turnout rate that took place notwithstanding previous statements by teachers’ unions stating that their teachers were incapacitated to report for duty. He shared the following remarks:
Today, we witnessed more teachers reporting for work than students reporting for school. The teachers’ percentage turnout was around 90%-100%, while students’ turnout was around 70%-95%.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) president Obert Masaraure told NewsDay that despite this news of high teacher turnout rates, over 90% of teachers had heeded the call to strike. He said:
We have embarked on a nationwide protest under the banner #SaveOurEducation. We are demanding that the government resolves the incapacitation of teachers as our salaries should be restored to pre-October 2018 levels, where we were earning salaries ranging between US$520 and US$550.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said they were behind ARTUZ’s stance and called for dialogue between the government and teachers.
Zimbabwe Rural Teachers Union (ZRTU) national co-ordinator Wonder Nyapokoto supported this stance and went as far as to add that the teachers are indeed financially incapacitated and can only go to work once a week.
These convoluted sentiments proved a disunity among the various teachers and the Unions that represent them. Mangwana shared these sentiments in a tweet that read:
Teacher turnout in schools yesterday proved that certain unions comprise a few activists and do not represent the interests of teachers. We are all products of the noble teaching profession and applaud those who push learners future ahead of their narrow political interests.
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]]>The post Tension builds as teachers tell government they will not be reporting for duty appeared first on Provoker Magazine.
]]>Government, which firstly, claimed to be unable of offer compensation in US dollars had also gone further to state that teachers who refuse to report for duty must expect no salary. However, the underpaid teachers have firmly resisted reporting for duty under such conditions. Accordingly, they will only be returning to their duties if their salaries match the 2018 compensation.
Teachers unions said their members would not report for duty because the salaries they are being afforded is not enough to cover their transport costs to and from work, let alone pay fees for their own children and feed them.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Takavafira Zhou said teachers under his union would not be reporting for duty despite the 75% increment announcement. He shared the following remarks
“It’s madness of the worst order. The same government gave police, soldiers, and Central Intelligence Organisation officers more than 100% salary increases with effect from February 2021. Now they want to give the rest of the civil service 25% with effect from April, and the other 50% from June
This double standard is unacceptable. Worse still, it is not a product of social dialogue, but unilateralism. What teachers want is restoration of the purchasing power parity of US$520 to US$550 or its equivalent.
The incapacitation modus operandi will continue unabated until government takes teachers seriously.”
The 75% proposed increment has been described as a mockery to the teaching profession given that the increment would be staggered, adding that by June, it would have been eroded by inflation. The Zimbabwe National Teachers Union chief executive officer Manuel Nyawo shared the following sentiments:
“We are so much frustrated and disappointed by the proposed 75% increment which remains a drop in the ocean. The increment margin that is being offered ranges from $3 500 to
$4 500. How is the little amount going to solve our incapacitation?There is no reason for us not to demonstrate. We are incapacitated, hence we will join any other union that wants to demonstrate for our own good.”
Remarking on the decision making process, Artuz president Obert Masaraure said the salary increment had not been officially agreed with civil servants as it was not communicated directly to the civil servants.
“It was never a collective bargaining engagement between the government and its employees. Government still has powers to fix salaries of civil servants without going through a genuine process of collective bargaining. All the salaries we are earning were never a product of a genuine collective bargaining process and we don’t have a signed collective bargaining agreement,” Masaraure said.
We reject the 75% increment, both the process and the amount. The amount itself is pathetic and unacceptable. What we need is a genuine reform of the laws governing the civil service. Labour laws governing the civil service should be aligned to the Constitution so that we also have collective bargaining agreements which can govern us.”
In line with the sentiments shared by the Artuz President, Zimbabwe Teachers Association chief executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu said:
“We have only seen the announcement in the Press. No communication has been made, but what we are looking forward to is a favourable outcome of negotiations whose results we have not received.
We are looking forward to the second meeting and an improvement from the last offer and with a clear roadmap towards restoration of salary levels matching the pre-October 2018 US$550. Anything diverting from the roadmap will be unsatisfactory and unacceptable. Dialogue should demonstrate serious attention to this demand as promised in the NJNC agreement of November 2020.”
Amidst these strikes, the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) is repoetedly set to meet this week to review civil servants’ working conditions.
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]]>The post Teacher’s union leader speaks on rumored abduction attempt appeared first on Provoker Magazine.
]]>The trade unionist was visiting a friend when he says four men approached him and tried to force him into an IST white Toyota vehicle. Unfortunately, he says he was unable to see the car’s number plates as its back lights were off.
Chere claims he managed to escape when his hysterical cries were heard by a security guard, storekeeper and some locals. He had this to say:
“I then went to a friend’s place where i slept in the bathroom fearing that the state agents were still pursuing my whereabouts and would return to abduct me.
In the afternoon I reported the matter to the police, whose RB case number I’m yet to be given”
This alleged occurrence was, according to Chere, not the first of its kind. He told the media that he had been “abducted several times before” by means of the same “modus operandi.”
A famous classic by Euripides, The Phoenician Women, has a quote that goes,
“This is slavery, not to speak one’s thoughts”
Should the alleged occurrence and all other similar ones be true, would the above quote not allude perfectly to the meaning of “freedom of expression and speech” in the context of Zimbabwe.
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Let us know in the comments below.
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