Govt considers new pay structure for teachers

THE Government is considering re-introducing allowances for heads of departments, wardens and teachers who have extra duties in schools in a bid to improve their welfare, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Dr Lazrus Dokora revealed.

Dr Dokora also revealed that efforts were being made to grade teachers and pay them according to their qualifications and grades.
Allowances for teachers were scrapped at the height of the country's economic challenges the same period teachers' earnings were eroded by the hyper-inflationary environment.

The Education Minister said his ministry had lined up a number of programmes aimed at improving the working conditions and welfare of teachers, as well as uplift the standards of education in the country.

"We are in constant interaction with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to see how best we can reward teachers who carry out extra duties in schools. Long back there used to be allowances for school wardens and HODs and we would want to see those allowances being re-introduced.

"Teachers, who hold special responsibilities in schools, should be rewarded and we have engaged the CSC on how best this can be done," he said.

On the grading of teachers, Dr Dokora said it was not fair for teachers who hold higher qualifications to be paid similar salaries with their counterparts who have inferior credentials.

"As it is all teachers are earning the same salary, regardless of the qualification one holds. That should not be the case. Someone who holds a first degree can't earn the same salary as someone who has a diploma. There ought to be a difference.

"One should move a notch or two up in terms of earning as they gain more qualifications. That way we will be able to motivate teachers to improve their qualifications and it will also help improve the education's delivery system," he said.

The Ministry of Education is also making efforts to improve teacher's qualifications by introducing a scholarship facility under the Teacher Capacity Development programme, with the first batch of beneficiaries expected to start their studies at the beginning of next year.

The Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with some local universities where teachers wishing to further their studies in various areas will be enrolled.

Zimbabwe Teachers' Association (ZIMTA) chief executive officer Mr Sifiso Ndlovu said teachers will not take seriously Dr Dokora's statements on Government's intentions to pay teachers according to their grades and qualifications, arguing that the Education Minister was not in an authoritative position to make such proclamations.

"What we know is that Government is in the process of grading and debunching teachers, but that is still work in progress. We don't know much about the payment of teachers according to grades. If that was coming from the Civil Service Commission we would know that something is happening.

"We have asked Government to appoint a chairperson to co-ordinate the debunching process and we are still waiting for a response," said Mr Ndlovu.

On the issue of allowances for HODs, wardens and teachers with special responsibilities in schools, Mr Ndlovu said: "These things have been there, there is nothing new. HODs must simply apply to the ministry to get those allowances because it is their right."

Meanwhile, Dr Dokora said the country needs 2 056 new schools, in addition to the existing 8 500, to deal with long walking distances by pupils as well as the practice of hot seating.

"Hot seating is not productive at all and it needs to be dealt with as a matter of urgency or else our standards will continue dropping. Some schools actually house close to three schools and the period of changing over from one shift to the other takes close to an hour, eating into the learning period of the other shift.

"Some children walk long distances to the nearest school and we also need to address that by building more schools," he said.

Dr Dokora further revealed that there were 2 900 acting school heads around the country and his ministry was working with the Civil Service Commission to substantively appoint the acting heads or replace them with more qualified personnel.

The Ministry of Education is also faced with a serious shortage of qualified teachers and is relying on more than 15 000 relief teachers, a situation that has been largely attributed to the declining standards of education in the country.