'Incapacitated' teachers stage sit-in demo

TEACHERS at various schools countrywide are reportedly reporting for duty only to mark the pupils' attendance registers, but are not conducting lessons as they continue piling pressure for better working conditions.

Teachers' unions yesterday told NewsDay that the educators had resolved to sit-in after government refused to restore their salaries to the pre-October 2018 levels when they earned between US$520 and US$550.

Amalgamated Rural Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure confirmed the alleged sit-in.

"We don't want to pre-empt anything. This is what we said before the schools opened that the employer has to capacitate teachers so that they go back to work. However, the employer is reluctant to solve our problem and is treating individuals with coercion and intimidation. What is coming up is that teachers have decided to just log in and not work until they are capacitated," he said.

Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Raymond said: "The truth of the matter is that teachers are incapacitated. I urge the government to look into their plight and capacitate them so that they perform their duties in class."

But Primary and Secondary Education ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro dismissed the claim.

"Teachers are engaged and are teaching in our schools. Learning is ongoing, we can't complain. We are grateful for their service and commitment while their grievances are being looked into," Ndoro said.

He added that government was confident that this time around they will not experience a surge in COVID-19 cases.

"We have confidence in the vaccinations and that the set standards of procedures would ensure that the pandemic remains at a minimum in schools," Ndoro said during vaccination of Harare-based teachers at Wilkins Hospital.

He said the vaccination of teachers would nip the coronavirus in the bud, while deter-ring the onset of a third wave of COVID-19.

"We are confident that we will not have a surge in cases of COVID-19 in our schools this time because of the vaccinations as well as the protocols in place."

Last term, there was chaos in schools as many students tested positive to COVID-19 prompting some of the schools to close early for fear of an escalation of the crisis. Last week, seven pupils at Prince Edward High School in Harare tested positive to the virus.