The Public Service Commission (PSC) has given all teachers, deputy heads and heads up to February 22 to report for duty, failure of which they will be deemed to have resigned from service in a new twist to the tiff between the government and its employees.
The directive comes after the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education last week suspended striking teachers for three months after embarking on an industrial action despite the government offering them a 20% salary increment and other incentives to rescue the education sector whose calendar has been adjusted due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The suspension was dismissed by teachers’ unions who argue that the ministry has no locus standi to suspend them since they are employed by the PSC.
The statement by the PSC shows that the employer could be losing patience with its workforce and is determined to move on after it called on unemployed trained teachers, university and college graduates in the sciences, engineering, technical, vocational areas and other disciplines interested in joining the teaching profession to register at the nearest district education offices.
We project a bitter tussle between the government and teachers. Regrettably when two elephants fight, it is the grass which suffers. In this case the grass is the learner whose future is being prejudiced by this standoff.
Like all other countries, Zimbabwe has not had a normal school calendar since the detection of the Covid-19 in March 2020.
In 2020 and last year, there were two school terms instead of the normal three per year due to lockdown restrictions imposed by the government to contain the spread of Covid-19.
The first term opened this month instead of January due to Covid-19. In such an environment one would expect the smooth flow of classes.
There have been reports that some teachers are reporting for work but not teaching. The PSC said it would descend on those teachers like a hammer. Others are charging hard pressed parents a fee to conduct classes. Caught between a hard place and rock, parents have to dig deeper for their children to attend classes.
Such commercialisation of education is not commensurate with the deteriorating economy in which the bulk of the workforce is the “working poor” earning below the consumer basket of ZWL$75,000 per month.
In such a situation, threats will not achieve the intended objectives. The government and teachers’ unions have to be on the same page for the latter to tell its constituencies to go back to classes.
The biggest union, the Zimbabwe Teachers Union, made a big step on Saturday after it pleaded with its members to report for work while it engages the government.
In a favourable environment, government assurances would urge other unions to convince its members to go back to work.
However, the environment is poisoned if militant statements that have been issued are anything to go by.
Zimbabwe is known for its robust education sector which has seen its nationals employed in key sectors across the world. In its radical move to instill order in the education sector, the government should be wary of throwing the baby out with the bath water.
