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Zimbabwe
schools set to reopen amid confusion, wage demands
Jonga
Kandemiiri, VOA News
September 01, 2008
http://voanews.com/english/Africa/Zimbabwe/2008-09-01-voa40.cfm
Primary and secondary
schools across Zimbabwe were to re-open on Tuesday, but there was
widespread confusion among parents and even some teachers as to
the starting date, with many convinced the return to classrooms
was not to happen until a week later.
But the Ministry of Education
confirmed that schools would open on Tuesday, September 2.
Sources in Harare said
the Mbare Musika and Fourth Street bus terminals were quiet Monday
with few children and teachers boarding buses back to their respective
schools.
Some parents told VOA
they had made no back-to-school preparations because the reports
their children brought home last term indicated schools would open
September 9.
National Education Director
Thomas Machingaidze said the Education Ministry issued a press statement
informing the public that schools would open a week earlier to make
up for time lost during the country's extended and turbulent March-June
election period.
Teachers, meanwhile,
were threatening to strike, demanding another increase in salaries
to offset the effects of inflation officially measured at 11.2 million
percent in July.
The Progressive
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe was demanding a monthly minimum salary
equivalent to US$979. Officials of the rival Zimbabwe Teachers Association
were to meet later this week discuss and set their organization's
position on wages.
The highest paid teachers
now earn some Z$1,475 in redenominated Zimbabwe dollars - or Z$14.75
trillion before the central bank lopped off 10 zeros last month.
Progressive Teachers
Union General Secretary Raymond Majongwe told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri
of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the confusion about the date
for schools to reopen reflected communication problems in the Ministry
of Education.
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