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Lecturers get hefty salary hike
Zim-Online
January 18, 2004

http://www.zimonline.co.za/headdetail.asp?ID=797

HARARE - The government has hiked the salaries of lecturers by up to 600 percent in a desperate bid to stem an acute brain drain at the University of Zimbabwe and other state institutions of higher learning.

The lowest paid lecturer at government universities will now earn Z$20 million up from $4 million per month. Senior lecturers will get $24 million while professors will receive $30 million per month.

An average family comprising four children and two parents requires about $1.7 million for basic survival per month according to the country's main labour union the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

"We have not been able to retain most of our talented and experienced lecturers due to poor remuneration so we have decided to do something for them. But I do not have the figures off hand. It is significant though," Higher Education Minister Herbert Murerwa told ZimOnline this week.

Murerwa is also acting Finance Minister in the absence of Chris Kuruneri who is in jail on charges of siphoning foreign currency out of the country.

In addition to the hefty salary hike, lecturers and senior non-academic staff will also benefit from a $700 billion loan fund set aside by Murerwa to assist university staff buy houses and cars.

Lecturers and other specialised staff at the government's six universities have for the last 12 months spent most of their time striking for better pay and working conditions. And many more of Zimbabwe's top university teachers have left the country for better paying jobs in the region and beyond.

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