Teachers forced to attend 4ED gigs

Teachers across Zimbabwe have raised alarm over being allegedly forced to attend Teachers for Economic Development (Teachers4ED) workshops, with claims that participation comes at a compulsory US$35 fee, deducted from their already strained incomes.

Teachers4ED, a Zanu-PF-affiliated grouping launched ahead of the 2023 elections to rally support for President Emmerson Mnangagwa, has been accused of imposing partisan activities on educators. While the programme was initially reported to have been funded through school budgets, teachers say they are now personally footing the bill.

Several teachers who spoke on condition of anonymity expressed frustration at being pressured by school heads to attend the workshops, including one lined up for Gwanda in Matabeleland South.

"We struggle to survive due to very poor wages that the government is paying us and it is grossly unfair and a serious violation of our rights for the school heads to be forcing us to attend such events, let alone forcing us to part with such an amount towards the useless programmes," said one teacher.

Another teacher warned that such coercion was pushing many to consider resigning: "This kind of treatment will force most of us to resign because we are being abused left, right and centre by these people."

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) leader Obert Masaraure urged educators to resist what he described as partisan manipulation.

"Teachers should not behave like second-class citizens in their own country. Teachers4ED is a failed brainwashing programme that has no space in the education system," said Masaraure.

He added: "If we have aggrieved teachers, the union stands ready to support by suing the organisers, but for once teachers must stop behaving like sheep."

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Takavafira Zhou, however, said he had not received reports of coercion in the latest incidents.

"It happened when Teachers4ED started, but seems to have suffered a natural death," Zhou said, while warning that some school heads affiliated to Zanu-PF might still be exerting "direct or indirect pressure."

He urged teachers to stand firm: "All teachers must be aware of freedom of association and resist any form of manipulation at their workplaces."

Primary and Secondary Education ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro dismissed the allegations, insisting that Teachers4ED enjoys "overwhelming voluntary support" within the profession.

"The choice to associate is a fundamental right of every educator in Zimbabwe," Ndoro said. "The Teachers4ED movement enjoys overwhelming support from the teaching profession across the country due to its alignment with the government's transformative policies in the education sector."

He described the coercion claims as "baseless" and encouraged any teacher who feels aggrieved to lodge a formal complaint through ministry channels.

Ndoro further argued that Teachers4ED commands a larger membership base than rival unions such as Artuz and PTUZ, evidence, he said, of its popularity.