Teachers welfare under spotlight

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
TEACHERS’ welfare issues have come under the spotlight as schools reopen following the prolonged closure of learning institutions due to the threat of Covid-19.

Schools reopen today for examination classes with the rest of learners returning to class on September 6.
Teachers who constitute 70 percent of the civil service want higher salaries and some of them are conducting illegal extra lessons or other moonlighting activities where they earn foreign currency over their day job, according to a parliamentary report.

Government employees nearly 200 000 people and close to 140 000 are teachers hence there is an urgent need to address their challenges.

To address some of the challenges faced by teachers, Government has been urged to introduce incentives for teachers including allowing their children not to pay school fees in public schools.

This is contained in a report presented to the National Assembly on Thursday by the joint Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education and Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare on teachers’ welfare issues.

Bulawayo Proportional Representation MP Mrs Priscilla Misihirabwi-Mushonga, who is also the chairperson of Primary and Secondary Education Parliamentary Portfolio presented the report.

“The committees noted the following; teachers’ salaries are grossly inadequate and cannot cater for their own and family basic needs. The impasse between the Government and teachers has not been resolved for a long time and teachers are clearly demotivated and prefer to conduct extra lessons or other moonlighting activities from which they earn foreign currency payments,” she said.

Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga said the two committees recommended that Government and the Apex council should hold a meeting to discuss issues relating to civil servants’ salaries urgently.

She said teachers’ children should be allowed to learn for free at Government institutions.

“That as part of conditions of teachers, the Public Service Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, should introduce a tuition fee waiver for up to three children attending public schools per teacher by October 2021. We are very excited about this particular issue because when we started having discussions with the Minister of Public Service, their initial response was to do it for everyone and not just teachers,” she said.

“I must however say by the time we went to meet Finance Minister M. Ncube, it was one of the recommendations that he immediately liked and said he would try and factor it into the budget.”

Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga said the delays in addressing teachers’ welfare issues could impact on the country’s quality of education.

Debating the report, Zanu-PF Bikita East MP Cde Johnson Madhuku said while the teachers’ salary issue is the subject matter, authorities should also consider how their welfare affects learners.

“The bottom line is let us first of all look at the learner. Let us first look at the lives of our children because a teacher occupies and performs a very important role which can lead to the demise of the nation. The New Dispensation here; we are talking about the vision of the Government, Vision 2030 and so on. We are looking at the Sustainable Development Goals and so on, which means that if we look at the SDG dealing with education, we are looking basically at the learner,” said Cde Madhuku, a retired teacher.

“A teacher here is occupying a very important position — giving life to the learner, country and hence, the teacher’s welfare needs to be taken seriously.”
MDC Alliance Magwegwe MP Mr Anele Ndebele said teachers have become vulnerable and they cannot even afford to send their children to the same schools in which they teach.

“Let me underline the fact that Members of Parliament must desist from clouding the issue of remuneration with an alternative of non-financial incentives,” said Mr Ndebele.

“I would like to agree with the previous Honourable Member that if you take a deep study, teachers do not even benefit from such non-financial schemes like the vehicle scheme for instance. In my constituency, no teacher – absolutely no teacher out of the eight schools benefitted from the vehicle scheme.”

President Mnangagwa recently said he was aware that teachers’ salaries were inadequate and Government was in the process of balancing between providing them a living wage and taming inflation.

He said this while responding to Zimbabwe Teachers Association chief executive officer Dr Sifiso Ndlovu who had pleaded with the President to improve teachers’ salaries.

Last month, Government increased civil servants’ salaries by between 45 and 50 percent as it committed to a staggered salary increase of 70 percent following the initial increment awarded in April. — @nqotshili