Emmanuel Chitsika
Teachers’ unions in Zimbabwe have said the role of educators are supposed to play in transforming the educational sector is far from becoming reality if one is to judge by the situation on the ground.
The remark was made by teacher unions as they joined the rest of the world on October 05 to commemorate World Teachers’ Day under the theme ‘Transformation of education begins with teachers’.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) president Obert Masaraure said the 2022 commemoration comes at a time when the country’s education sector has seen its dignity stripped away.
“This year’s theme speaks to the importance of prioritizing the teacher as the first and crucial step towards transforming education for the better. For us in Zimbabwe, this comes at a critical time when the sector has moved from being the pride of Africa to a source of shame for the country.
“The average teacher in Zimbabwe is severely underpaid and incapacitated to effectively deliver and equip students with quality education. The situation is compounded by the underfunding of the sector in general where learning resources and infrastructure is inadequate to ensure effective learning,” said Masaraure.
He went on to say ARTUZ has since improvised to come up with a sub-theme reflective of the state of affairs in Zimbabwe.
“As ARTUZ, we are advancing a sub theme for this year’s celebrations to state that ‘teachers under siege. Save our education’ as a way of speaking the realities of our country and sector specific challenges,” added Masaraure.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Dr Takavafira Zhou said for Zimbabwean teachers, there is virtually nothing to celebrate as educators are going through a lot of challenges.
“There is nothing to celebrate in Zimbabwe. Teachers are mourning their fall from grace to grass with monotonous regularity. Teachers are underpaid and living in squalor. Despite loss of learning time due to Covid-19, there is very little prioritization of pedagogical diversification and embracing of technology and transformation.
“There is no collective bargaining, social dialogue or seriousness on addressing the legitimate challenges faced by teachers. There is prioritization of retention of power and lack of investment in quality public education,” said Dr Zhou.
Zimbabwe National Teachers Union (Zinatu) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Manuel Nyawo however had no kinds for government saying teachers are commemorating their misery, destitution, neglect, enslavement, slavery and impoverishment coupled with dampened hope.
“The president (Emmerson Mnangagwa) has always said ‘no one must be left behind’ but it pains that teachers are actually and as a matter of fact left behind in salaries, allowances, accommodation and self-sustaining projects. We have a life to live after retirement but sadly our salaries do not speak to that and this goes to apply to all civil servants as we have nothing to show.
“How do we celebrate failure to fend for our children, failure to send our children to school while resorting to buying cheap clothes and foot wear as we can’t to do that in decent shops,” said Nyawo.
Government and teachers have been at logger heads when it comes to the latter’s remuneration which has led to threats to and strikes at times as the employer is reluctant to meet the demands of the employee.
