Govt Says "Almost 100% Of Teachers Turned Up For Duty"

The government has said almost 100 per cent of teachers turned up for duty when schools reopened on Monday for the third term.

Primary and Secondary Education ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro said told NewsDay Zimbabwe:

We had a massive turnout of teachers in our schools with initial statistics showing that almost 100% of teachers turned up for duty in spite of calls by certain teachers’ unions to embark on a go-slow industrial action. 

There have been reports that the educators were on a go-slow pending a full-blown strike. 

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) Tuesday warned that teachers will “fight back” if the government does not pay them their pre-October 2018 salaries. Said the union in a Twitter post:

The government should never assume that Unions have retreated from the fight for USD 540. We just gave them a long rope. We requested a USD 200 cushion & they ignored our call. September payday is coming, if the government doesn’t pay pre-October 2018 salaries workers will fight back!

But the government has said it has no capacity to meet their salary demands.

Ndoro said the Education Ministry would continue to monitor daily teacher attendance “and ensure that effective teaching and learning takes place”.

Pindula News