HARARE – The Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Association (ARTUZ) vowed on Wednesday to boycott invigilation duties after the government failed to give them commitments that ZIMSEC would pay them allowances.
The government held a meeting with six teachers’ unions on Monday during which grievances over invigilation allowances and overall pay dominated discussions.
Ministers said they would not pay invigilation allowances without an enabling legal framework for paying teachers examination management allowances.
PTUZ secretary general Raymond Majongwe said: “It’s regrettable that there has been no movement at all in relation to the issue of invigilation allowances.
“That being the case, our members will still not invigilate examinations outside of a written contract with ZIMSEC. We hope the issue is solved expeditiously.”
Primary and secondary education ministry spokesman Taungana Ndoro insisted that public examinations for Grade 7, Form 4 and Upper Sixth were progressing smoothly, denying teachers had disengaged from invigilation duties.
“Invigilation is ongoing as I speak. It was resolved that in respect of invigilation, the unions would come up with a consolidated position paper and the minister would consider it for the way forward,” stated Ndoro.
ARTUZ president Obert Masaraure said the government was not being honest in its dealings with teachers.
“Teachers don’t need any position paper, we just need paid invigilation contracts. This ‘all is well’ narrative is meant to gloss over a burning education crisis. It is the same ‘all is well’ which led to 50 percent of our learners failing to enrol for public examinations,” Masaraure fumed.
“It’s the same ‘all is well’ song which has led to thousands of teachers leaving the country. It’s a fact that only administrators are carrying the burden of invigilating.”
On Tuesday, President Emmerson Mngangagwa made a television address to accuse the British government of funding some teachers’ unions to disrupt his political programme.
Both PTUZ and ARTUZ denied receiving British funding, and instead accused Mnangagwa of seeking to divert attention from his government’s failure to pay decent salaries and finance education.
PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou blasted: “The false accusation that PTUZ is pursuing a regime change agenda is a diversionary, ludicrous hallucination. Looking for the British behind every rubbish bin in Zimbabwe has no traction.
“The government must pay teachers a living wage, while ZIMSEC as a parastatal must pay for services rendered by teachers.”
