Mass exodus of teachers hits Zimbabwe's education sector

Zimbabwe's education sector is facing a worsening crisis as thousands of government-employed teachers continue to resign each year due to poor salaries, lack of job satisfaction, and growing politicisation within the profession. The President of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Takavafira Zhou, says the scale of teacher attrition is staggering, with at least 15,000 educators-about 11% of the workforce-leaving their posts annually.

Zhou described the exodus as a "costly and astounding brain drain" that has created a severe shortage in schools across the country. He revealed that there is now a teacher deficit of around 50,000, representing over a third of the 135,000 teachers needed to meet national staffing requirements.

He said many of those leaving are demoralised by the government's failure to improve wages and working conditions, as well as the growing politicisation of the profession through groups like Teachers 4ED, ZIPIT, and Zimbabwe Teachers for Remuneration. According to Zhou, these groups are not only undermining professional unionism but are also allegedly colluding with government departments to frustrate legitimate teachers' unions by tampering with membership records.

Despite these claims, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has strongly denied the figures. Ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro dismissed the assertion that 15,000 teachers are resigning each year as "preposterous" and said the 2023 data showed only 5,217 teachers left the public education sector. Of these, he said 2,109 resigned, 2,866 retired, and 242 left due to other causes. He added that the government had replaced them with 8,500 new recruits during the same year.

Ndoro also disputed the PTUZ claim of a 50,000-teacher shortage, calling it "Disney fiction." He said the government is addressing teachers' grievances through formal structures and that significant budget increases under the Second Republic demonstrate its commitment to the education sector.

However, critics argue that despite such claims, the government's actions on the ground tell a different story. Many schools now rely heavily on parental contributions through the Better Schools Programme Zimbabwe (BSPZ), a sign, they say, that the Ministry is financially overstretched and unable to adequately support its own institutions.

Zhou cited the government's move to slash teachers' salaries from about US$540 to less than US$300 as the most significant factor behind mass resignations. He described the current salary levels as "slave wages," saying most teachers now live hand-to-mouth. He also accused authorities of ignoring repeated petitions and calls for dialogue, including appeals made directly to the Office of the President.

The situation has been worsened by a job evaluation exercise that Zhou said unfairly rewards administrative staff under the Paterson grading system, at the expense of long-serving and highly qualified educators. Promises to provide housing, including the much-hyped Gwindingi Teachers' Housing Project, have failed to materialise, while allowances remain unpaid and restrictive leave policies further demoralise workers.

Obert Masaraure, President of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), said the number of teachers leaving the public sector has doubled in recent years, from about 500 a month to 1,200, driven mainly by better job opportunities in the Middle East. He accused ministry officials of being detached from the realities on the ground, saying many of them send their own children to private schools while public schools suffer from overcrowding, teacher shortages, and poor infrastructure.

Masaraure also said that many teachers now live in ridicule and are treated with contempt by a system that has become increasingly ungrateful for their service. He said that in some schools, pupil-teacher ratios are as high as 1:50, with teachers forced to rotate classes due to hot-sitting.

Zhou added that efforts to professionalise teaching through the Teaching Professional Council (TPC) have been undermined by government control, leaving teachers without an independent body to champion their rights. He warned that corruption was now creeping into the education sector as desperate teachers resort to survival tactics.

While the government maintains it is implementing evidence-based reforms and working to improve teacher welfare, educators' unions say the reality is far more bleak. Until meaningful and sustainable reforms are implemented, the growing exodus of teachers is expected to continue-leaving Zimbabwe's once-proud education system teetering on the brink of collapse.