Back to Index

PTUZ urges teachers to return to work
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
May 06, 2010

The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has urged teachers to return to work for the second school term of the year which began on the 4th of May 2010 arguing that they cannot embark on a nationwide strike without auditing the results of the previous one which was staged in March this year.

PTUZ National Coordinator, Mr. Oswald Madziva says that there is need for teachers to assess the effectiveness of industrial actions as past ones have not yielded anything or have resulted in diminutive increments. He further noted that wage battle cannot be separated from political issues as the political situation determines the levels of investment flows and government's ability to award high remuneration to civil servants. "I ever teachers are going to strike it should be a political strike attacking political issues which can bring results. Without the correction of the political situation in the country, salaries will remain the same", Mr Madziva told the catalyst.

Mr Madziva further stated that there is need for all unions to have the correct political ideology to ensure the effective industrial actin and engagement with authorities. PTUZ , Zimbabwe Teachers' Association (ZIMTA) and Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ) collided during the last strike owing ro differences in engagement with the government. "PTUZ will no longer have contact with other teachers' unions as they differ on principle and even ideological orientation. Considering the experiences and the agenda which was set by the Apex Council which were not fullfilled last term, the union can no longer pull together with their colleagues who are the ZIMTA, Publlic Service Commission and TUZ in staging demonstrations across the country", Mr. Madziva said.

ZIMTA and TUZ allegedly abused platforms to discuss teachers' grievances in different provinces during the previous school term. (January - March) by discussing partisan politics as opposed to real civil servants grievances. PTUZ noted that the Apex Council was composed of individuals of different ideological orientation owing to the council's strong political inclination towards ZANU PF.

The other factor which prompted the decision by PTUZ to urge their members to return to schools is the emergence of non formal private schools licensed by the Ministry of Education, particularly in high density suburbs which are short changing students. In Kuwadzana for example, according to Madziva, there are 15 non-formal private schools run in churches. He highlighted that if teachers embark on any form of industrial action, this will undermine public education and students will seek alternative education facilities, which are often times not the best.

On the way forward, Madziva says that teachers are divided into two groups, some living in rural areas and others in urban areas meaning that their grievances are different, and as such the union shall conduct meetings across the gathering views from these members. These views will be used to lobby government and to develop strategies to address key concerns raised by the teaching fraternity.

For more than a decade, teachers in Zimbabwe have been experiencing chronic hardships owing to the country's economic recession. Teachers are getting monthly salaries pegged between $150 to $260 despite cries for increments of up to $600 which have been rejected by the cash strapped government. This has resulted in massive brain drain into the informal sector. According to Finance Minister, Hon, Tendai Biti, government froze civil servants salaries arguing that they cannot afford to award higher salaries. "Teachers are saying their salaries are not enough to cater for their needs, more so the salary freeze announced by the minister finance worsened the situation", said Mr. Madziva.

The PTUZ noted that during a survey conducted by the union, it was discovered that several schools have suffered massive brain drain to neighbouring countries. "We have discovered that over 1200 teachers left the profession during the one month holiday citing poor salaries," he said.

Visit the Crisis in Zimbabwe fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP