School Development Associations (SDAs) at some schools across the country have taken the initiative to deal with teachers’ incapacitation by paying each US$10 per term.
An SDA chairman of a leading mission school who declined to be named told The Mirror that the US$10 will be paid when schools reopen and the figure will be reviewed later. He said:
The teachers have genuine problems of incapacitation; they have no money for food, rent and transport.
We are going to give each teacher US$10 at the opening of the school and review this amount thereafter.
Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Takavafira Zhou said it is illegal for schools/parents/SDAs to pay teachers any form of incentive.
Zhou said it is the government’s obligation to pay teachers and not parents who are already struggling.
The PTUZ president advised parents to withdraw their children from schools until the government and teachers agree on salaries.