The February edition of the Crisis Report focuses on developments in the education sector. It gives an overview of teacher welfare and how government’s delay in solving concerns of teachers is negatively affecting the education sector. Read on.
‘Propaganda will not resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe’s Education Sector’
Since schools opened on February 7, 2022 teacher unions in Zimbabwe have declared that their members are incapacitated to report for duty.
This is mainly due to the meager salaries (which are way below the Poverty Datum Line), which the teachers continue to receive. Chaos continues to reign supreme at government schools around the country and students continue to be deprived of their right to education.
However, in the midst of this entire crisis, the government has been on an overdrive to paint a rosy picture of the country’s education sector despite the fact that events on the ground prove otherwise.
Speaking during a Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Twitter Space event on the state of the country’s education sector, the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Taungana Ndoro defended the government’s stance that all was well at schools across the country.
He however admitted that more could be done to improve the standards of education as well as teachers’ welfare. “I have been at several schools and what I observed was that we have a mixed bag ever since government intervened. Last week we had a number of teachers not attending but now the situation is changing. It is not all blink and blurry but the outlook is looking positive although there is probably more that could be done.
Let us allow government to take the strides that it has taken to make sure that the welfare of the teachers is taken care of,” said Ndoro.
Government and teacher unions have been at loggerheads with the teachers blaming the government for pushing a propaganda campaign aimed at painting a positive picture yet the education crisis in the country continues to affect both teachers, parents and children.
Speaking during the same event, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) challenged government to face the reality on the ground and create platforms for genuine dialogue with the teachers.
Read the full report here (2MB PDF)
Source: Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
