Govt snub teachers | Business Times

TENDAIISHE NYAMUKUNDA

Government has ignored calls from teachers for a National Joint Negotiation Council (NJNC) meeting to address their demands for a better salary, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA) has said.

The NJNC is a collaborative forum that brings together representatives from the government, the public sector unions, to address concerns of State employees.

However, ZIMTA president, Akunei  Maphosa claimed  that the civil servants  were ignored by the government.

As a result, the unrest among teachers has gotten worse.

“As schools have opened for the second term of 2024, this week, the teaching fraternity, which encompasses teachers, education directors and some lecturers have plunged deeper into the turmoil of struggling to survive with insufficient salaries, a situation which is

constantly undermining the quality of education delivery, mostly in the public

education system.

“Dissatisfied members of the teaching fraternity are sadly trickling back to their

workstations under difficult and unforeseen circumstances as the employer has failed

to respond to the calls for meetings to discuss salary increases, during the month of April2024, which should mark the first quarter negotiations of the NJNC meeting

which has been the norm over the years.

” ZIMTA in its representation of the various structures within the teaching fraternity has made various attempts to draw the employer to the discussion table with no success.

Because of this attitude from the employer, members of the teaching fraternity believe

that their Right to Collective Bargaining under the NJNC is being infringed upon. We

demand to have our right restored back to us ,” Maphosa said.

He added :”As civil servants in the teaching fraternity, we are deeply dissatisfied with the way the employer is failing to set up the rightful mandatory meetings for the workers to further discuss the way forward and increase levels of salaries and allowances for Teachers, this process is long overdue.

“As a loyal workforce working under the Public Service Minister, we believe that we

have a right to present our grievances, such as the need to have a better salary,

therefore we publicly demand that the NJNC must convene as soon as possible.

“Because of the current low incomes obtained in the teaching fraternity, educators are increasingly finding it unsustainable to deliver and facilitate a conducive environment for enabling quality teaching and learning.

” The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal number 4, which the

Zimbabwean Government is signatory to, will only be achieved on condition that quality public education is well funded and that teachers who are the key facilitators, are motivated and well remunerated through the releasing and payment of improved salaries.”

He claimed that the reason behind teachers’ unhappiness was their stagnant pay, which only makes matters worse  as the price of products and services rises.

“The issue of awkward grading systems between junior and senior grades is a cause for concern amongst members of the education fraternity and we hereby make an urgent call for the employer to address it alongside the awarding of new salaries for educators,” Maphosa said.

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