BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
The Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta), the country’s largest teachers’ union, has warned that there ‘will be disruptions of activities within schools’ if their members do not get this year’s bonus in United States dollars.
Zimta on Monday said it had met at the weekend and came up with what it termed the Ehlekweni-Bulawayo Declaration where demands for foreign currency denominated bonuses were made.
“Teachers are demanding that the employer must pay a bonus in United States dollars this month of November 2021 because teachers are sinking deeper into incapacitation each and every day,”Zimta said.
“This is the only way to avert crushing them deeper into poverty and dysfunction,”
They also demanded that the government must put in place a facility that would enable teachers to access the weekly US$50 from their individual nostro accounts.
Zimta said its members were not able to utilise the facility where Zimbabweans can buy foreign currency at the official exchange rate through financial institutions.
“Ultimately, this move will enable educators to access part of their salaries in US dollars and eventually solve a longstanding grievance from the teachers,” the association said.
Zimta also wants the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) to pay teachers that would be invigilating this year’s final examinations.
“This is the only way to guarantee quality of examinations while motivating the teachers and introducing equity in the treatment of all those who manage examinations,” it added.
“Evidence at hand has proved that Zimsec has the capacity to pay for invigilation of exams by teachers.”
Zimta added: ” Finally, and most importantly, the declaration stated that the salary for a Grade D level teacher of US$540 has to be honoured by November 2021 at the latest.
“The Zimta-Ehlekweni Bulawayo, November 2021 Declaration further stipulates and warns the employer that failure to meet these demands from the educators, within the above specified time frames may lead into disruptions of activities within schools, compromising the quality and equal access to education for learners, disturbing examination invigilation and ultimately the failure of moderation and capture of Continuous Assessment Learning Activity results.”
Zimbabwe’s teachers say their salaries have been eroded by inflation and the collapse of the local currency.
Since 2018 they have been demanding that the government restores their salaries to the equivalent of US$520, which they were earning before the re-introduction of the local currency.
An average Zimbabwean teacher now earns less than US$200 a month.