The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education continues to suspend teachers, deputy heads and school heads who failed to report for duty when schools opened for the first term on 7 February citing incapacitation.
According to the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA), school heads have also been directed to demand reports from those teachers who were not on duty from the 7th of February 2022 together with those who reported either on the 7th or 22nd of February but thereafter left the workplace.
ZIMTA Acting Secretary-General Goodwill Taderera teachers will respond to the demand for written responses within 14 days following consultations with ZIMTA and its lawyers. Said Taderera:
In the meantime, we have commenced legal proceedings before the courts amidst continued engagement with the authorities for an amicable solution to the continued suspensions of our members.
Meanwhile, ZIMTA has urged its members to desist from acts of lawlessness such as locking learners out of classrooms and demanding cash before learners can be allowed into the classroom. Added Taderera:
We are aware that some educators who are not our members will also most likely find themselves suspended or asked to write a report explaining their whereabouts from the 7th of February 2022.
We encourage them to move with speed and join ZIMTA through their school representatives or Provincial Executive Officers so that on being served with a demand to write a report we can assume agency and represent them in the review applications before the Labour Court or High Court.