Zimbabwe: Striking teachers demand urgent meeting with Mnangagwa

By Anna Chibamu

Teachers' unions have petitioned President Emmerson Mnangagwa demanding an urgent meeting with him over poor remuneration and working conditions.

The teachers, who did not return to work after schools opened nearly a month ago, have said they are not on strike but are incapacitated are ion demand their salaries to be pegged at US$520.

"Your Excellency, in light of the prevailing situation in the education sector and teachers' incapacitation, we want to plead with you to intervene and save the education sector from total collapse and capacitate teachers so that they can report for duty," the teachers said in their petition to Mnangagwa.

"It is our prayer that this petition will be treated with the urgency it deserves because education is the bedrock of the development of any nation and it is the mother of all professions.

"We are very much aware that you are a listening President and we have no doubt that you will accord us the attention we highly anticipate. We are very optimistic that your good office will accommodate the teachers and come to their rescue for the good of the current and future generation," said the teachers' unions.

The petition was signed by the Zimbabwe Teachers' Union (ZIMTA), Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ), Amalgamated Rural Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) among others.

In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) Thursday Mnangagwa raised the plight of teachers and other civil servants in his speech.

"Government takes note of the legitimate calls for better working conditions by our teachers, health workers, and public service in general. We will do our best to ameliorate their concerns and improve their plight," he said.

This article originally appeared on New Zimbabwe

Photo: The Herald