Some teachers in public schools are reportedly demanding incentives which range between US$2 and US$4 from parents every month saying that is the only way for them to teach their children.
The practice was reported by The Sunday Mail which conducted a snap survey recently in schools around Harare. An anonymous female teacher based in Mabvuku told The Sunday Mail that parents who failed to pay the incentives put their children at risk of falling behind in their education. She said:
The child will simply be ignored. No one will check whether they participate in class or do their homework properly. The teacher will pretend that the child does not exist. So clever parents negotiate or even befriend the teachers for the sake of their children.
This happens when teachers are demanding a pay rise saying that their current ‘paltry’ salaries are unsustainable particularly because Zimbabwe is an inflationary economy.
Most parents are already struggling to pay fees making the new demands by teachers exclusionary as the have-nots would find their children deprived of education.
The government is however against the conduct but parents would sacrifice for the sake of their children.
More: The Sunday Mail