BY NOTHANDO DUBE & NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
Educators in Zimbabwe have been crying out for decent salaries for over five years, with their salaries eroded by the high cost of living and harsh economic conditions.
We recently had a one-on-one interview with the ZIMTA president, Akuneni Maphosa, who shared his insights on the issue.
“Allow me to explain briefly about salaries for heads and teachers generally. Our issue is that, in October 2018, teachers were generally getting a US$540 salary. Such that, we put it across to the government that they stole from us, because, with the mix-up that came with the RTGS currency, whereby 1 US dollar was said to be equivalent to 1 RTGS, that is where we lost our value for money.”
Maphosa emphasized that ZIMTA has a research department that tracks the market and determines the minimum salary required for teachers to survive.
“We found out that a teacher must earn US$1 200, but what we wrote to the government, looking at the average figure, considering that we still have not reached US$540 of 2018, we submitted US$840 to National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC), where we negotiate with the government on salaries.”
He highlighted the shortfall in the recent US$40 increment offered by the government.
“When you look at the amount of the US$40, we were given recently, as we know that our salaries have a component of US dollars and Zim dollars, but when we look at it from the US dollar value, our entry grade is US$479, such that there is a shortfall of US$361 for us to get to the US$840, that is for grade D1.”
Maphosa stressed that ZIMTA is pushing for quarterly reviews to reach the desired salary.
“We are saying the government should have quarterly reviews of these salaries.”
He outlined ZIMTA’s three-pronged approach to address the issue: negotiating at NJNC level, pursuing job evaluation, and professionalizing the teaching service.
“We believe that this is the route that will enhance the earnings for the educators in the country.”
Additionally, Maphosa mentioned that ZIMTA is also pushing for the establishment of a Civil Service Bargaining Council, which would allow for collective bargaining and binding agreements with the government.
“We are currently working with the government and Public Service Commission to ensure that this is put in place.”
Maphosa concluded by emphasizing ZIMTA’s commitment to engaging with the government.