Today Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) marched in solidarity with the Unemployed teachers in Harare and delivered a petition to the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Hon Mumbengegwi demanding an immediate review of teacher recruitment freeze that was effected by Chinamasa being guided by the austerity recommendations of the Bretton Woods international financing institutions.
The march was organised by the Unemployed Teachers’ Association, which is ably led by Takemore Mhlanga.
ARTUZ is irked that employed teachers are bearing the burden of 1:80 teacher pupil ratio whilst more than 20000 teachers remain unemployed. Primary school teachers are teaching multiple grades and secondary teachers are teaching multiple subjects, this is unacceptable and we must all unite to stop the madness.
The government invested millions of tax payer’s money training thousands of teachers whom they can’t employ today.
ARTUZ members and other progressive teachers today were wearing red in the fourth installment of their Red Friday protests as they demanded the recruitment of more teachers. The Red Friday protests will now assume an election-centric approach wherein we will be tabling various pro-poor policy alternatives to competing political players that seek to assume government responsibility.
Source: Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ)
