By Dr Takavafira Zhou
We have said it before and will continue to say it today and in future, that the best foot forward for teachers is the United Front of Teacher Unions. Sadly, there are other unions with legs in both the United Front and Apex Council thereby weakening our Way Forward. However, as Ptuz we respect our colleagues’ choices and will continue to work on common grounds in spite of divergent views elsewhere. It is however, our humble submission that a meeting between gvt officials and United Front of Teacher Unions would have been more ideal to address the current impasse in schools over welfare of teachers as well as education sector specific allowances.
Sadly, gvt has called for NJNC meeting today* with the archaic, obsolete and moribund Apex Council whose term of office has long expired. It is clear that with gvt unilaterally announcing a salary increase of 40% and 10% risk allowance, the meeting has no purpose other than registering a fait accompli or rubber stamping gvt’s already pronounced position. This is surely callous, capricious, monumental injustice and mutilation of fair labour practice.
Gvt has also intensified its commandist approach* to force teachers to go back to work which will not yield the best result, more so because it is holding on slippery legal ground. At any rate teachers have the usual *pocket-veto that can even guarantee physical presence but mental absence. The best, therefore, is to capacitate teachers rather than the futile attempt to force them to borrow money in order to report for work.
While gvt is quick to announce teachers’ salary and in most cases even exaggerating it, we note the conspicuous silence on salaries of other gvt workers. All the same given the fact that several teachers are married to other gvt workers, we always quickly find out salaries of other gvt workers. We remain concerned that at a time gvt is ready to pay teachers a salary of $18000 other gvt workers who were earning far less than teachers in June 2020 would be getting more than $28000. This is not to say this is adequate, but only to point to the unpalatable discrepancies that generate despondency and industrial disharmony among teachers. We wonder why gvt is treating teachers as any other business (AOB) given the fact that they are a vital cog of national development.
To teachers, the time to whip union leaders towards your desired destiny is now. Union leaders are not masters but servants that must be given a mandate by members. Be on the watchout for union leaders that would betray your quest for capacitation and pride in your incapacitation.
To parents, you are concerned stakeholders and have kids that need to learn and write examinations. The time to amplify your voices in search for a holistic solution is now.
To churches your intervention is long overdue in order to mediate between teachers and gvt.
We remain ready for meaningful dialogue as teachers, but pray that our welfare, health and safety must also be highly prioritised. We have fallen from grace to grass with monotonous regularity in a country rich with resources. We have remained the poorest of the poor in a country that discriminate teachers. We need to be capacitated so that we can effectively and efficiently manage the world’s best resource asset, viz, pupils. We are also parents with responsibilities to our families. Sadly our own kids cannot access the services we offer as school fees in boarding schools has increased beyond our affordability. It remains baffling how we are expected to teach other people’s children whilst our own children are at home because of our poverty.
The legitimate cause of capacitation cannot be surrendered on a silver platter. It is a question of life and death, status regeneration as opposed to degeneration. Our unity of purpose across unions’ divide is our protector and guarantor of success.
Venceremos
Dr Takavafira M. Zhou (Ptuz President)
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