No one seemed to know the number of teachers in Zimbabwe when the inclusive government was formed three years ago, and this could still be the situation today as the government insists there are 75 000 ghost workers.
The permanent secretary for education said there were 94 000 teachers officially.
Raymond Majongwe of the Progressive Teachers Union said there were only 40 to 50 000 teachers.
He said there was an additional 30 000 youths most of whom were active in the violent youths militias during the 2008 election who were now on the government payroll as teachers.
He said 70 to 80 percent of the teachers were not qualified and were appointed on nepotism.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said there were 130 000 teachers on the books.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE246, ZIM EDUCATION STILL IN LIMBO AS TEACHERS THREATEN
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|
Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO7062
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0246/01 0821200
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 231200Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4266
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2717
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2839
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1293
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2104
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2460
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2887
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5326
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2006
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000246
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. WALCH
DRL FOR N. WILETT
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR J. HARMON AND L. DOBBINS
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR MICHELLE GAVIN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2019
TAGS: ASEC KDEM ELAB PGOV PHUM PREL ZI
SUBJECT: ZIM EDUCATION STILL IN LIMBO AS TEACHERS THREATEN
RENEWED STRIKES
REF: HARARE 226
Classified By: Charge d’affaires, a.i. Katherine Dhanani for reason 1.4
(d).
——
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (SBU) Raymond Majongwe, the outspoken Secretary General of
the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), told us
in a meeting on March 18 that teachers’ unions are in the
difficult position of working with the genuinely interested
and committed new Minister of Education (MDC-M’s David
Coltart), and trying to satisfy the demands of teachers who
are outraged at inadequate pay and the fact of illegitimate
workers on the GOZ payroll. In order to stay relevant and
not lose touch with its membership, the unions may go on
strike again until the government increases pay for
legitimate teachers and rids the payroll of illegitimate
government workers. END SUMMARY.
——————————————— ——-
Union Stuck Between Good Minister and Angry Teachers
——————————————— ——-
¶2. (SBU) During our meeting with Majongwe, he took multiple
phone calls from teachers demanding information on their
salaries and agitating to go on strike since the government
has not lived up to its promise to negotiate a higher salary
for March. Majongwe explained that teachers had been told
they would receive their salary of Z$800 (which is
essentially worthless) and the standard civil servant
allowance of US$100 in their bank accounts on March 19. On
March 20, PTUZ told us that some of the larger banks in
Harare had paid teachers while others, particularly in
outlying communities, did not have cash. After months
without bank lines, a long line of civil servants waiting for
cash formed outside CABS building society in Harare on March
19 and 20. As teachers wait in long bank lines for their
US$100, their classrooms remain empty. Majongwe confirmed
press statements that PTUZ and the alternative teacher’s
union, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA), agree on
the potential need to strike if salaries are not raised.
¶3. (SBU) Majongwe criticized Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s overestimation of the government’s ability to
pay wages, leading to disillusionment amongst the work force.
Following Tsvangirai’s promise, Majongwe’s union called on
Zimbabwean teachers working in South Africa and elsewhere to
return home and rebuild Zimbabwe by returning to the
classroom. The government promised it would negotiate a
higher salary for the March pay check; however, that has not
happened. Teachers, unhappy with the continued low pay, are
ready to walk away again. Already, numerous teachers —
disgusted with Zimbabwe’s continued economic instability —
who answered the call to come homehave said that they will
collect their March pay checks and return to South Africa,
where they still have jobs and homes. While Majongwe and
others had believed that the GOZ would have the money to pay
Qothers had believed that the GOZ would have the money to pay
civil servants, especially teachers, in foreign currency,
they now recognized that the GOZ was indeed broke.
¶4. (SBU) PTUZ’s starting salary demand of US$2,200 per month
has been widely reported in the press. Majongwe said
teachers would be prepared to accept as little as US$500 for
now. He estimated teacher salaries in Zambia and Botswana
are between US$900 and US$1300. With many Zimbabwean
teachers working elsewhere in the region, Majongwe argued a
comparable salary would help lure them back. With public
HARARE 00000246 002 OF 003
schools charging fees over US$100, many children, including
those of teachers, have been turned away from schools for
inability to pay. Teachers argue that the US$100 allowance
is inadequate and must be raised.
¶5. (SBU) Majongwe said he empathized with Minister Coltart’s
inability to pay a higher wage, but said that as a union
leader, his responsibility is to negotiate with the GOZ and
push for higher wages. An exasperated Majongwe showed us an
article from a local paper in Masvingo published this week
that accused him of “selling out” to the government and being
overly conciliatory to the government. To stay relevant and
responsive to teachers, Majongwe said he must respond to the
teachers’ concerns and not appear to be defending the
government.
¶6. (U) Separately, Minister Coltart told the press on March
18 that the coffers are dry and said he could not promise
“anything” in terms of salaries. In an encouraging move,
Coltart also launched a National Education Advisory Board
consisting of leaders of both trade unions and members of all
political parties. The Board will map out a plan for the
educational system.
—————————————–
How Many Teachers Are Left? No One Knows
—————————————–
¶7. (SBU) In a recent meeting, the Permanent Secretary of the
Ministry of Education told Minister Coltart and Majongwe that
there are 94,000 teachers — officially — in Zimbabwe.
Majongwe believes there are only about 40-50,000 teachers,
plus at least 30,000 youths — most of whom were active in
violent youth militias during the 2008 election campaigns —
who are on the government payroll as teachers. Majongwe said
that 70-80 percent of the teachers are not qualified, having
been appointed through nepotism or despite inadequate
academic qualifications. In comparison, Zimbabwe had about
115,000 teachers in 2005. Without an audit or survey, it
will be impossible to know how many “real” teachers remain in
Zimbabwe. (NOTE: Finance Minister Tendai Biti recently told
us there are 130,000 teachers on the books (Ref A). END
NOTE.)
—————————————–
Thugs On The Payroll And In The Classroom
—————————————–
¶8. (C) During the election violence in 2008, the ZANU-PF
machinery launched a coordinated series of attacks and
intimidation in rural communities, often directed at teachers
who had been assigned to work at polling stations for the
March 2008 election and were perceived as MDC supporters.
Majongwe told us that many of the perpetrators of those
attacks are now receiving the US$100 government allowance,
having been added to the payroll of the government, often
through the Ministry of Youth (now led by notorious ZANU-PF
MP Saviour Kasukuwere) or the Ministry of Women (led by
ZANU-PF’s Olivia Muchena). In communities, these “employees”
QZANU-PF’s Olivia Muchena). In communities, these “employees”
flaunt their paychecks although it is widely recognized that
they are not actually doing anything.
¶9. (C) In a development that just began this month,
“employees” of these two ministries have established
“offices” within classrooms across the country. According to
teacher reports to PTUZ, these “employees” sit in small book
rooms that are within the classroom where they can hear the
teacher throughout the day. They are only there for the
duration of the school day — teachers and Majongwe believe
they are there to spy on the teachers and to provide quiet
HARARE 00000246 003 OF 003
intimidation. Press reports have indicated ZANU-PF youths
have threatened teachers and insisted on sitting in on
lectures to ensure teachers don’t spread “MDC propaganda.”
¶10. (C) Teachers are outraged by this new development, first
because it is a continuation of the intimidation they have
experienced at the hands of ZANU-PF since the run-up to the
March 2008 election, and second because they see these fellow
“civil servants” as not doing anything but still receiving
the same US$100 allowance. Majongwe said Minister Coltart
was genuinely concerned and had asked him for additional
evidence.
——————————————— —
PTUZ Happy With New Minister, Despite Challenges
——————————————— —
¶11. (SBU) Majongwe described Minister Coltart as a deeply
concerned, compassionate, and level-headed leader. He noted
the significant contrast with the previous minister, with
whom he interacted only once — when he was summoned to the
ministry to be scolded for a public statement. Now, however,
Minister Coltart has actively sought out Majongwe’s opinion
on numerous occasions, and they have met or spoken nearly a
dozen times in the last month. Majongwe appeared sad when
contemplating launching a strike against this new minister
who is trying desperately to pull Zimbabwe’s educational
system from the abyss.
————————–
COMMENT: Show Me The Money
————————–
¶12. (C) Teachers have justifiable complaints that the US$100
allowance is inadequate to cover a family’s living expenses.
At the same time, there is little understanding of how very
poor and unproductive Zimbabwe has become in the past decade,
with GDP per capita estimated at less than a dollar a day,
making wage comparisons with neighboring countries,
especially Botswana and South Africa, unreasonable. The
government’s commitment to pay higher salaries in foreign
currency and inability to follow through may quickly produce
a backlash. With open schools as a significant indicator of
progress in the New Zimbabwe, renewed strikes could be
disastrous both politically for the MDC and educationally for
the children. END COMMENT.
DHANANI
(789 VIEWS)
