Sikhumbuzo Moyo [email protected]
TEACHERS at Queen Elizabeth Adventist Primary School have downed their tools over five months of unpaid salaries, with the school reportedly offering to pay them just US$50 fortnightly towards clearing the outstanding arrears.
The industrial action has disrupted learning at the private church-run institution, which is owned by the South Zimbabwe Conference (SZC) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
It has been alleged that each of the 13 teachers at the school are owed about US$3 000.
The school, which charges US$452 in fees, is located about 32km from Bulawayo along Plumtree Road. Its learners are transported from the city daily, while its infant classes operate from the church’s Bellevue premises along Balfour Road.
A teacher, who requested anonymity, said educators could no longer continue working without pay while meeting their own household expenses.
“We cannot continue offering free labour when we have families to feed. We also know that none of the learners is owing the school anything,” said the teacher.
The headmistress, Mrs Leah Nyoni, referred all questions to SZC education director Mrs Zibusiso Sibanda. However, Mrs Sibanda and the conference’s executive secretary, Pastor Thamsanqa Ndlovu, had not responded to emailed questions sent on Thursday morning.
The teachers had first raised their concerns in writing with SZC president Pastor Bongani Ndlovu on October 23, but reportedly received no response.
They subsequently engaged their union, the Zimbabwe Educational, Health, Scientific, Social and Cultural Workers Union (ZEHSSCWU), which has since taken up the matter with the church leadership.
The union’s Matabeleland regional coordinator, Mr Jerry Mathema, confirmed that he was handling the grievance and had written to the SZC leadership.
In a letter dated October 29, the union expressed concern over what it described as unsustainable and oppressive working conditions, saying its members had continued reporting for duty despite going five months without remuneration.
“As a union, we are deeply aggrieved, profoundly dissatisfied, and formally protest the highly unsustainable, illegal, and oppressive conditions under which our members are being forced to operate.
“For a gruelling period stretching into nearly six months (five months completed without any remuneration), these teachers have faithfully executed their duties, continuing to educate the children under their care without receiving proper salaries,” reads part of the letter.
The union said the prolonged non-payment of salaries had caused financial hardship, emotional distress and uncertainty over the teachers’ livelihoods.
“We are compelled to confront your office with a fundamental operational question: On whose expense are these teachers expected to continuously report to work? They are expected to meet transport costs, buy food, pay medical bills, and settle school fees for their own children, yet they have been met with total financial neglect from the administration,” said the union.
The industrial action comes at a critical time, with learners sitting for their end-of-year examinations. The headmistress and her deputy have reportedly been left with the task of invigilating classes.
