Teachers who marked 2021 Grade Seven examinations are still to get their allowances despite promises by the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) to pay them with speed.
The examinations were written in December and the marking ended on January 20 this year.
Examiners who spoke to Newzimbabwe.com said (ZIMSEC) had promised to pay the teachers as soon as they finished marking the examinations.
Each teacher was supposed to be paid ZW$15 per script.
Approximately, each person was supposed to mark about 500 scripts. One examiner told NewZimbabwe.com:
ZIMSEC only paid us our allowances which amounted to ZW$46 000 RTGS. As for the actual marking, we have not been paid anything so far. This money is very little, and we do not know why ZIMSEC is taking so long to pay so little.
Another examiner said ZIMSEC had breached the payment contract which stated that they were supposed to have been paid upon completion of marking. Added the examiner:
We worked under very difficult conditions and some of us sacrificed our lives by accepting to mark the examinations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Early this month, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) alleged that teachers who marked the examinations will be paid $16 500 for 14 marking days. The union described the figure as paltry and an insult to the teaching profession.
Meanwhile, the results were released on the 4th of February.