Zimbabwe says not all teachers are on strike

HON. BITI: Hon. Speaker Sir, I hope I am logged in.  My supplementary question to the esteemed Minister is: given the fact that teachers are effectively earning 2000 RTGS, which is US$20 or US$30 from a time when they were earning US$500, I put it to the Minister that the simple solution for the Government is to simply restore the original salary of the teacher, pay them in US$ their original US$500 and I can assure the esteemed Minister that every single teacher will be back at work.  I thank you Hon. Speaker Sir.

HON. PROF. MAVIMA: Thank you Hon. Speaker.  I want to thank Hon. Biti for that supplementary question and suggestion for US$520 or equivalent for teachers.  Hon. Speaker, any remuneration of public servants takes place within the context of a macro-economic situation.  The budget has to be there in order to meet the demands.  We have urged moderation on the part of the unions because we clearly understand the macro-economic context in which we are operating.  We are also cognisant of the stabilization that seems to be taking hold now in the country.  On that basis, we are saying to the teachers, given that the Government has already offered 40% and already extended the nostro-based $75, they should consider that offer, but continue to negotiate.  Let both sides sincerely negotiate in ways that give consideration to the macro-economic situation in the country.  I thank you Hon. Speaker.

HON. SIKHALA: Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  I think I am online.  My supplementary will be split between the two ministers.  I want to understand the reason why the Government asked for the opening of schools before solving the problems of teachers first.  Mr. Speaker Sir, I wonder whether the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education knows the level of moral decadence that is currently prevailing in all boarding schools throughout the country where students are not going to school.  What are they going to do with the current proliferation of moral decadence on the basis of absence of teachers at schools?  What are the measures being taken by the Government to control the situation? Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

THE MINISTER OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION (HON. MATHEMA): Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.  Schools in the first place Mr. Speaker Sir, were closed not because somebody sat down and decided to close schools.  Schools were closed like everywhere else in the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic, none of us created the COVID-19.  Therefore, the strategies and operations of the Ministry and the whole Government indeed, depended a lot on the information on the ground as to what the effect of COVID-19 is.  Therefore the opening of schools depended on what facts we had on the ground internationally and regionally as to whether it was safe for children to go to schools.  We did not open schools when some teachers were already on strike.  There was no teacher on strike before we opened schools.  That is why we opened schools and we are doing it like any other country.  Zimbabwe does not exists alone, it exist in the region and in the world.  We did not instruct any teachers not to go to work.  Thank you Mr. Speaker Sir.

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