The majority of teachers in public schools have reported for duty after the Public Service Commission (PSC) threatened to fire them.
Last week, the PSC gave striking teachers up to 22 February to resume work or else be regarded as voluntarily resigned.
In an interview with State media on Tuesday, Primary and Secondary Education communication and advocacy director, Taungana Ndoro expressed satisfaction with the teacher turnout. He said:
We have received reports from all the provinces and we are happy to say that teachers who turned for duty were more than 60 per cent and that’s more than the number of teachers who turned out when schools reopened.
This is an encouraging number and we will continue monitoring the situation.
Most teachers in public schools failed to report to duty when schools opened for the 2022 first term on 7 February saying they were financially incapacitated.
They have been demanding pre-2018 US dollar salaries of up to US$540 but the Government offered them US$100 in addition to a US$75 COVID-19 risk allowance and a 20 per cent increment on the Zimbabwe dollar component of their salaries.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) national secretary-general Goodwill Taderera also said the majority of their members had reported for duty across the country. He added:
You see, we are obviously not happy with the salary we are getting as teachers. We are still maintaining that we go back to the pre-2018 salary structure.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) leader, Takavafira Zhou, said that they had resolved that teachers return to work while they continue pushing for the restoration of their salaries. He said:
Collated evidence from provinces revealed that the best protection from the employer is the unity of purpose in diversity and therefore teachers must return to schools as we continue fighting for US$540.