Zimbabwe teachers demand farms

Teachers are demanding farms from government in order to boost morale and address their "deplorable" living conditions which comes at a time education standards in the country are once again plummeting.

Speaking at World Teachers' Day commemorations in Harare recently, Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said the majority of teachers never benefited from the land reform programme.

He said if government was to institute a commission of inquiry as to how teachers are surviving, everyone will be shocked as they have all now tested positive to poverty.

Majongwe claimed some teachers were residing in shacks while others were sharing a room with their grown-up children.

He said government should give them those farms and they also want them so that they can have decent accommodation not that on retirement after years in the profession one goes to lodge in one room with family.

Majongwe said teachers had no business in politics. He said there was a misconception that they were also sworn Zanu-PF enemies, but were simply demanding a decent living for them to effectively play their role.

He said both Zanu-PF and the opposition MDC should concentrate on solving problems facing the country rather than dwell on intra-party squabbles.