By Dr Takavafira Zhou.
Our research as Ptuz has shown that on average 2 teachers are dying in every district every month because of poverty and psycho-social stress. Cumulatively, 128 teachers are dying every month and 1536 every year in Zimbabwe. Sadly, the line Ministry, the employer Public Service Commission and Government seem to be unperturbed by the impact of this high rate of attrition of educators on the education system in Zimbabwe.
Poverty and its resultant psycho-social effects are killing many teachers across Zimbabwe. There has been a quantum leap of suicides, fatal domestic quarrels and divorces as a result of poor salaries in Zimbabwe.
There is an urgent need to intervene by the line Ministry, PSC and Government to ameliorate the high rate of attrition. The intervention must be in form of paying teachers a living wage rather than the current starvation wages they are receiving. President Mnangagwa will go down in history as a President that caused the death of many teachers in Zimbabwe through starvation wages. Indeed the paradise edifice promised in 2017 has turned out to be a diet of starvation for teachers. But President Mnangagwa also has an opportunity to improve the plight of teachers and save lives in the last four years in office, if only he changes course. His predecessor, Robert Mugabe left teachers earning US$540 basic salary. However, under the abnoxious and warped economic policies of Mthuli Ncube, the plight of teachers has fallen from grace to grass with monotonous regularity. All teachers have now tested positive for poverty and psycho-social stress. The nation cannot entrust the future of its best asset, viz, pupils, to hungry, angry and stressed teachers. There is a need for an intervention to stop the scourge behind the death of many teachers in schools as a matter of urgency.
The underpayment of teachers has erased their role model, pace setting, dignity, lustre, leadership roles, and important advisory roles to pupils and communities. Teachers have now been reduced to beggers and scavengers for food and with very limited influence to their students. Consequently, there has been a quantum leap of bullying, indiscipline and drug abuse in schools as teachers no longer have time for guidance and counselling, let alone for social clubs with pupils.
Any delay in status restoration through reasonable salary may actually be dangerous to efforts towards entrenching quality public education in schools in Zimbabwe, and engineering a skills revolution in schools by 2030. The 2030 educational Agenda is in limbo, more so because of limited innovation and dynamism by poverty stricken and stressed teachers. Well paid teachers in safe schools is a must for quality public education. There will be no meaningful learning and teaching in Zimbabwean schools until the current parlous state of teachers is addressed. The sooner it is addressed, the better for creating a credible system of education by teachers in Zimbabwean schools.
Venceremos
Dr Takavafira M. Zhou*, Ptuz President.
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