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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Strikes and Protests 2007/8 - Teachers and Lecturers
Confusion
as some teachers stay home despite deal with government
Tererai Karimakwenda, SW Radio Africa
October 08, 2007
Visit
the index of articles on the teachers' strikes
http://www.swradioafrica.com/news081007/teachers081007.htm
Confusion surrounds the
situation regarding teachers in the country after the Zimbabwe Teachers
Association (ZIMTA) made a deal with the government last Thursday
and ordered striking teachers back to work. As of Monday, some teachers
from ZIMTA said they were not returning to their posts until the
agreed Z$ 14 million for September was in their accounts.
The other union,
the Progressive
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, blasted ZIMTA for making last week's
deal, saying the money offered was still below the poverty datum
line. As Grade 7 students showed up to write their external examinations
on Monday, it was not clear whether there would be enough invigilators
to man the exams. Not enough information was available from around
the country to indicate otherwise.
PTUZ National Coordinator
Oswald Madziva told Newsreel on Monday that they had advised their
members to go to work, not because they had accepted the deal, but
because they wanted the teachers at a central place so they could
consult them on the way forward.
Madziva said they had
also sent text messages to members seeking their opinion, and were
currently collecting more information from all their branches and
a clearer picture is due to emerge by Tuesday afternoon.
Madziva explained that
they had urged government to be sensitive to the needs of students
and postpone the Grade 7 exams. He said teachers had been on strike
for 3 weeks in February and another 3 weeks in September which means
students have missed a total of 6 weeks of lesson time this year.
The students have also been affected by the mass exodus of teachers
from Zimbabwe, and replacements are difficult to find. Power cuts
and shortages of paraffin and candles in the country also cut down
their study time.
Madziva said PTUZ had
no contact with officials from ZIMTA because the 2 unions differed
on principles and the way forward for education in Zimbabwe. A PTUZ
statement on Monday described ZIMTA as "largely a pro-government
union".
Meanwhile lecturers
from the National
University of Science and Technology (NUST) are reported to
have rejected their union leaders for being lenient on the government
and negotiating for a minimum salary of $35 million which the lecturers
refused to accept.
The University Educators
and Teachers Association at the institution passed a vote of no
confidence on their union leadership and have given a notice to
go on strike if their demands for salary and living conditions are
not addressed.
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