|
Back to Index
PTUZ
observations on the Education Amendment Bill 2005
Progressive
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
August 10, 2005
The following
are observations from the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe
on the Education Amendment Bill 2005.
EDUCATION
AMENDMENT BILL 2005
Clause 5
The prescription
of fees charged by non-government schools will cripple these schools.
Considering that it takes Him more than six months to decide what
fees are to be paid in government schools as has happened this year
most schools may not be able to operate whilst he dilly dallies
with their applications. A commission comprising representatives
of these school and senior ministry officials should instead be
set up to deliberate on fee increases.
Clause 6
Appealing
to the Minister wont work because he will simply refer your appeal
back to the Permanent Secretary. It would be better to appeal to
the High Court considering the urgency involved.
Clause 10
An
Education Services Commission should be set up as quickly as possible.
This commission will determine the qualifications of teachers in
both government and non-government schools. The Minister has already
made up his mind to get rid of people employed to coach certain
sports in non-government schools and wants to sneak this clause
into the Act so that his aim is made easier.
Clause 11
The
Minister should not be allowed to make rules and regulations for
teachers he does not employ. Instead the responsible authorities
of these schools should be allowed to design their own codes of
conduct using the Public Service regulations as a guideline. Such
codes of conduct should then be registered with the Ministry of
Public Service, Labour and social Welfare and the Education Ministry.
Clause 13
This
clause is vague. We believe that this clause may be used to discriminate
certain associations. We also feel that the clause should state
that the Minister may recognize ‘Teachers’ Unions’
Where it states
that membership of such unions will be restricted to serving members
of the profession, we feel there is a hidden motive to eliminate
teachers who have taken up full time jobs in their unions.
IMPORTANT
ISSUES OMMITTED FROM THE BILL:
- HIV/
Aids
The
Ministry has lost a large number of teachers to HIV/Aids in the
last 15 years. We feel that the issue of providing for the needs
of teachers who are infected should be addressed by an act of
parliament. If this is not done then we will continue to pay lip
service to this problem. The country is already experiencing a
shortage of teachers as many of them succumb to HIV/Aids related
illnesses. The Minister must make it his business to ensure that
infected teachers are provided with anti-retroviral drugs because
these will prolong their lives and minimize absenteeism resulting
from illness.
- Conditions
of Service
We
also observe that the bill concentrates on issues pertaining to
the employment and discipline of teachers in non-government schools.
As far as we are concerned the Minister should be more concerned
about the Conditions of Service and Remuneration of teachers in
Government schools. These teachers are grossly underpaid and as
workers and are virtually starving. They have to borrow so that
they can show up for work. Why should the Minister waste time
harassing teachers who are well paid and are happy with their
jobs? Address the issue of poor salaries for teachers in your
schools first Comrade Minister. Whilst ofn the issue of poor salaries,
we also note with concern that teachers with disabilities receive
no special allowances. For instance, a blind teacher has to employ
an aide in order to function efficiently. Such a teacher is required
to pay the aide from their paltry salary. This is unfair.
Thank you for
your time
Raymond Majongwe
General Secretary
Visit the PTUZ
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
|
