Govt, teachers reach deal

Published by the Government of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Education Sports and Culture Minister Sen David Coltart resolved the Teacher strike predecessor Aeneas Chigwedere failed to resolve over 1year in one week
Herald Reporter

GOVERNMENT yesterday struck a deal with teacher organisations the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association for their members to return to work by March 2 to allow the resumption of normal classes for the 2009 education calendar.

The development came as the Government presented a US$458 million budget to the donor community for the education sector.
Addressing a Press conference in Harare yesterday, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart, said the money was for six months.

"The budget we presented to UNICEF and the donor community is US$458 million for March 1 up to the end of August," he said.

Minister Coltart also agreed on a number of key issues with the teachers’ representatives.

He said the ministry and the unions agreed that all teachers should report for duty by March 2 and that "all schools would be fully functional by March 9".

It was also agreed to grant amnesty to teachers who left the service over the past two years for economic reasons.

Minister Coltart said he had fruitful discussions with UNICEF, United Nations agencies and other donors with interest in the education sector.

It was agreed that the amount of the March salaries would be reached through negotiations.

The long run, the intention is to match their salaries with those paid to teachers in the region.

The Government admitted that the February salaries for teachers were inadequate and agreed to improve their conditions of service.

The ministry and the unions agreed that the 2008 educational year would not be revisited.

There were calls from some quarters to consider 2008 a wasted year and to have it revisited.

Instead, the ministry and the unions agreed to slight adjustments to the 2009 school calendar.

The second term will begin earlier on May 5 (Tuesday) instead of May 12.

The third term will begin on September 2 (Wednesday) instead of September 8. There would be no changes to the first term.

The meeting between Minister Coltart, his deputy Lazarus Dokora and representatives of the unions was held in a warm atmosphere.

PTUZ was represented by Mr Raymond Majongwe while Ms Tendai Chikowore represented Zimta.