Chronicle Editor
Is it not unethical that teachers at Government schools who have decided to either not report for duty or sit-in at their stations are now conducting private lessons for a fee?
As we reported, teachers and private tutors are cashing in on extra lessons, charging up to US$40 per subject per month especially for examination classes.
Obviously, they are taking advantage of the disruptions to the school calendar that have largely been Covid-induced, but exacerbated by stay-aways and sit-ins.
The low pass rate is also forcing parents to pay for extra lessons.
In 2020, 184 249 candidates sat for five or more subjects and 45 644 passed five or more subjects with a Grade C or better giving an overall pass rate of 24.8 percent, while in 2019, 200 062 sat for five or more subjects and 63 215 obtained Grade C or better in five or more subjects.
This translated to a 31.6 percent pass rate.
For Grade seven, the pass rate improved by 4.02 percent to 41.13 percent, although the number of candidates fell by 0.6 percent from 327,559 in 2020 to 325,573 in 2021.
Our team that conducted a survey around the city yesterday discovered that primary school pupils are paying US$10 for all subjects while secondary school pupils pay between US$10 and $20 per subject.
Advanced level students pay up to US$40 per subject a figure that is also charged for Ordinary Level science subjects.
Also worth noting is that some of those conducting extra lessons are not qualified teachers but graduates who did not find employment in their fields of expertise.
Since schools opened last week Monday, some teachers and headmasters have not been reporting for duty citing incapacitation.
Some go to their workstations daily but do not teach.
This is despite the fact that Treasury announced a 20 percent salary increase for all civil servants plus an additional US$100 cash allowance, as well as school fees allowance for teachers among other non-monetary benefits.
Government has since suspended for three months without pay all those who have been absconding, but we feel more needs to be done to protect the learners.
Even if teachers’ grievances were still genuine after the salary increase, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: “The right to education is a human right and indispensable for the exercise of other human rights.”
Unesco further states that “if all adults completed secondary education, globally the number of poor people could be reduced by more than half”.
Section 75 (a) of the country’s Constitution provides that “Every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has a right to a basic State-funded education, including adult basic education.
” This must be read together with Section 81 (1) (f) which also provides that “Every child, that is to say every boy and girl under the age of 18 years, has the right to education.”
Teachers are denying learners their right to education; hence they are falling foul of not only Zimbabwean, but international law.
Further, teachers are perpetuating poverty by denying their students a good education.
And as if that is not enough, they are now cashing in on a crisis which they created by charging for private lessons.
This is criminal.
Government must arrest such criminals.COMMENT
Online Reporter