O and A Levels examinations under threat as teachers plot crippling strike
Robson Nikita Chere, of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
School teachers are planning a full-scale nationwide strike over poor salaries and working conditions.
This was revealed by Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) president Obert Masaraure in an interview with NewZimbabwe.com Wednesday.
The threat comes at a time when schools are preparing for Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations normally written in November.
Masaraure said the teachers are demanding their salaries to be pegged at pre-October 2018 scale when they earned above US$500 a month each.
“We are on the ground organising and pushing to that day where we will bring the education sector to a standstill until this government pays our salaries,” Masaraure said.
“We have made a declaration and a commitment to the teachers of this country that this year when examination begins, it is not going to be business as usual until this government awards us a salary increment,” he said.
“Not even a salary increment, we just want the restoration of our pre-October 2018 salaries which were at a minimum of US$520 and we are saying if Mthuli Ncube and Emmerson Mnangagwa think that business will remain normal, come exam time they are going to be shocked with what is coming their way,” he added.
“We are determined to make sure that no one will write examinations this year until the teachers receive salaries which commensurate with the great work they do for this country. The country should expect more than a full-blown strike, the country should expect the education sector to come to a standstill until the demands of the teachers have been met.
–New Zimbabwe
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