'New school rules breed chaos'

More than 10 000 school development association employees, among them teachers, might soon be jobless as their salaries are not guaranteed by the recently-introduced Social Services Fund.

Boarding masters/matrons, clerks, cooks, guards and groundsmen are on the list of potential casualties.

SDAs have over the years sustained development at Government and mission schools via levies charged separately from tuition fees. Their work includes staff recruitment following massive teacher migration in 2007/8 and a civil service recruitment freeze.

However, a new system introduced by the Primary and Secondary Education Ministry in February 2016 transferred control of development levies from SDAs to Government.

The ministry has dispatched circulars directing all schools to deposit levies in the SSF.

SDA proponents argue that this arrangement takes away parents' involvement and does not cater for school employees outside the civil service.

There are fears chaos could visit learning institutions if the 10 000 leave their posts with no one to replace them.

Primary and Secondary Education Deputy Minister Professor Paul Mavhima said to this publication: "Who is, for instance, running Zimpapers (The Sunday Mail's holding company)? Is it the board or management? In this case, we are saying let management, which is led by the headmaster, run the schools.

"Parents, as the board, will then supervise and not participate in the day-to-day activities of the school. Like I said, does the Zimpapers board come to Herald House daily?"

Regarding the employees' fate, Prof Mavhima said: "We are dealing with policy issues at ministerial level. What you are asking is administrative. You need to talk to the Permanent Secretary (Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango)."

Dr Utete-Masango could not be reached for comment.

Zimbabwe School Development Associations and Committees president Mr Claudio Mutasa said the new dispensation was unclear.

"School development associations are a creature of a Statutory Instrument. The minister was supposed to have issued another SI to reverse the preceding one, not to wake up one morning and start issuing directives.

"From our computations, at least five people are employed by each SDA, and some big boarding schools employ as many as 30. So, do your mathematics. Remember, these people were employed by parents as a result of Government's recruitment freeze that was occasioned by financial constraints."

Mr Mutasa continued: "Government has not been recruiting - be it teachers or support staff . It is public knowledge that some pupils go for months without teachers as a result of the staff recruitment freeze and this has forced parents, via SDAs, to employ teachers.

"Most of those people who are losing their jobs will not sue the ministry, but parents. They were not employed by the ministry but by parents through SDAs. And so, who is going to pay their packages let alone outstanding salaries?"

Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe president Mr Manuel Nyawo weighed in, "Considering the fact that Government is not recruiting, there should be an effort to keep people in employment. Over the years, parents, through SDAs, have assisted Government by employing thousands.

"As far as we are concerned, there is no system in place for Government to absorb those employees, which makes them jobless in the end."

SDAs were established at the recommendation of the 1998/9 Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training chaired by academic Dr Caiphas Nziramasanga.

The commission reasoned that involving parents in school affairs would improve learning standards and spur development via resource mobilisation.

It underscored how grassroots participation could cultivate ownership and commitment among parents.

Part of Statutory Instrument 379 of 1998 (Education, School Development Associations, Regulations) reads, "In the exercise of its functions, an association shall: engage or hire, in consultation with the headmaster and with the approval of the secretary, such additional suitably qualified teachers who have not attained the age of seventy years, whether part-time or full-time as may be considered necessary by the association to serve the needs of the school.

"… Engage or hire, in consultation with the headmaster and with approval of the secretary, an agreed number of non-academic staff … The levies shall augment monies allocated to the school by the State and shall be applied to meet the anticipated commitments of the association arising out of expenses, costs and charges incurred in promoting the objectives of the association."