adminbut waits for his turn to enter the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture offices at the corner of Third Street and Speke Avenue in Harare.
He is part of a group of young men and women who have been milling around the entrance to the building for the past week. One at a time, a member of the group enters the building and comes out 15 minutes later.
The look on their faces tells a tale that whoever they are going to see in the building has no good news for them.
“I am desperately in need of a transfer into Harare region after serving four of wasted years kumachonyonyo uko (a colloquial term for a far flung rural area). Everyday for the past four weeks of the holiday I have spent it here seeking a swap or vacant post in someone close but to no avail,” Samson says.
“I fear if I leave the building that would mean losing the chance for transfer as the authorities always tell us to keep checking. I can’t continue in the rural areas because the conditions of service are unbearable.”
The Harare offices are not the only ones that are swarmed by teachers seeking transfers as the situation is similar to most district education offices in urban or peri-urban settings as teachers seek workstations that “promote development”.
A number of young teachers are reluctant to take teaching posts in remote parts of the country in the hope a chance will present itself in the urban centres. This reluctance of new graduate teachers to take up posts has seen an increase in the number of vacant posts in the country’s schools.
According to the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, more than 15 000 in Government schools posts remain vacant despite colleges and universities churning out thousands graduates each year. The
situation has been exacerbated by Advanced and Ordinary Level students who are taking up teaching as a profession.
The majority of open posts are in the remote rural areas of the country that are usually shunned by people for underdevelopment.
Among the issues that were advanced by the teachers are improper infrastructure, teaching resources, lack of incentives and advancement opportunities and political situation.
A headmaster at a school in Mudzi who chose anonymity said it was difficult to attract qualified teachers because of lack of communication and infrastructure for further advancement.
“It is always critical that one advances in this era of competition. Our young teachers see these places as deathbeds.
“They want to be near libraries and educational centres as most want to improve their education through distance education programmes.
“Imagine having to travel from Mudzi to Murehwa to attend Open University classes every month. That is a push factor enough to try to go near or to urban centres,” he said.
He said teachers that have left the profession or gone to teach in urban have shown rapid development like owning houses or buying cars something that is unheard for those in rural schools.
Another teacher, Arnold Chamunogwa of Wedza, said failure by Government to address the issue of remuneration or offer rural incentives made taking up post in these areas less attractive.
“While in urban areas they get better incentives, we get none because the school and parents do not have the resources. To make matters worse, if you ask for an incentive you invite the wrath of the parents which is unlike urban parents where they understand the plight of the teacher,” he said.
He also bemoaned the deteriorating infrastructure in rural areas, saying the situation made working there more difficult.
“It is frustrating to be asked to work when you do not have enough resources. The situation only improved with the books donated under the Educational Trust Fund but we still face challenges. How does the system demand that you produce to the same level with an incentivised and resourced teacher in urban centres, I wonder,” he asked.
Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association chief executive Mr Sifiso Ndlovu summed the reasons for shunning remote saying it was because of poor working conditions.
He said it was not only rural areas but also farm schools.
“Lack of accommodation, social amenities as libraries and health centres and incentives from both Government and parents was militating against the schools attracting qualified teachers.
“The younger generation wants access to service centres frequently and quickly. They also want to improve themselves hence require libraries, Internet and television services hence find the remote rural areas repulsive,” Mr Ndlovu said.
He said a general shortage of health facilities in malaria- prone areas and transport is another reason why teachers shun these areas. These are the things that teachers with family consider before taking up these
posts. Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe president Mr Takavafira Zhou agreed with Mr Ndlovu saying Government needed to deliberately focus on modernising rural areas to attract development.
“The majority of the rural schools are inaccessible to a point that some teachers have to walk for 40 kilometres to the next serviceable road. This is true for areas in Mwenezi, Gokwe, Rushinga, Mudzi and Chiredzi. Some of the schools do not have electricity, clean water supply and health facilities nearby.
“You can buy a television set, fridge or even a bed, things that are common for all teachers in urban centres. Government has promoted the shunning of rural schools by making sure they stop awarding hardship allowance,” he said. Government acknowledges that it has failed to plan for the rural and farm schools hence the numerous challenges they were facing. Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart said there were no housing facilities for teachers and even for the school children. He said his ministry was drafting a policy that will ensure teachers take up posts in the rural schools.
“We are in the process of drafting a policy that will ensure teachers take up post in rural schools. We also want to draft a policy which will enable teachers working in the rural schools to get sound rural allowances in efforts to attract more teachers to the rural schools,” said Coltart.
“Years of no economic investment in the sector due to the illegal sanctions have seen the working conditions in the civil servants and particularly in the schools infrastructure plummet, forcing workers to either resign or migrate to towns. It is encouraging to see that most teachers in rural teachers do not have incentives but their work is great,” he said.
Mr Zhou said it was high time Government moves to improve conditions of service in rural areas in order to attract qualified personnel and institute development.
“An equalisation fee or grand should be given to rural schools to close the gap between developed and underdeveloped schools. Government and its partners should also set aside money to improve infrastructure
in these areas if they are to attract qualified teachers. There is need for a minimum infrastructure like health facilities, clean water supply, shelter and transport to attract teachers.
“The rural electrification authority needs to quicken electrification of educational and health centres so that teachers in these area enjoy the same advantages as those in urban centres. Before addressing these concerns we are likely find people fill these vacant posts,” Zhou said.
Mr Ndlovu said Government needed to immediately reintroduce the hardship allowance or rural allowance for civil servants operating in these remoter parts of the country.
“There is also urgent need to construct houses at school so as to do away with accommodation shortages in schools. Instances were teachers share houses eat into their privacy and is unwelcome. Government must introduce housing schemes for rural teachers at service centres and growth points so that they and other civil servants can invest in their own accommodation. By that we will kill two birds with a single stone – shortage of accommodation and arresting rural urban drift,” he said.
The unions agreed that until a time the country decides to focus on the rural areas, teachers will continue to shun the rural areas.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu