Harare, Zimbabwe — When schools reopened in Zimbabwe, late September, Noel Madamombe (16) thought time had arrived for him to prepare for final examinations later this year.
Little did he know that there will not be any learning, for quite some time.
Zimbabwean teachers have vowed not to report for work until their employer revises their salaries to 2017 when they earned not less than $300 per month.
While negotiations are continuing, the government has, in the interim, offered the striking teachers a 40 percent transport allowance.
This is in addition to a COVID-19 $75 allowance lasting until December.
Currently, teachers are earning a paltry 3,500 Zimbabwean dollar (Z$) ($38).
The Total Consumption Poverty Line for an average family of five is now pegged at Z$15,573 ($173) as of August this year, according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency.
While the poverty datum line and the cost of the basic commodities, which are pegged against the United States dollar, have continued to rise the government has not responded by increasing teachers’ salaries beyond the COVID-19 allowance and transport allowance.
As the government and its workers tussle over salaries, the students are the most affected.
Madamombe, is in his final year studies and is due to write his Ordinary Level examinations.
Students have been out of school since March this year when the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
As a provisional measure, some schools introduced online learning during the lockdown period but only a few students – those who could afford data bundles benefitted.
Zimbabwe has some of the highest data tariffs in the region and has been experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades.
With Coronavirus cases declining, the government is finally putting measures to ensure all schools reopen while observing COVID-19 World Health Organization regulations.
Since the 28th of September 2020, schools have started opening their doors only to pupils who will sit for their national examinations later this year.
The remaining pupils are expected to return to school towards the end of the year.
“I am worried about my examinations because during lockdown I was not learning,” Madamombe, a student at George Stark Secondary School in Mbare in the capital Harare told Ubuntu Times.
“I live in an area with no electricity to charge my gadgets and buying internet data bundles to attend online lessons was a challenge for me.”
While students are coming to school, no learning is taking place.
“Our teachers are not coming to school,” Madamombe said.
Another Form 4 student, Trish Hungwe (17), said they were going to school to study.
“Since the day we reopened we have not been learning,” said Hungwe who learns at Chikanga Secondary School in Mutare, Zimbabwe’s fourth-largest city.
Madamombe and Hungwe‘s predicament is similar to many students who are going to school at a time when their teachers are on an industrial strike citing incapacitation.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been plummeting since the time President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over reigns of power from the late former President Robert Mugabe, in November 2017 through a military coup.
The country is going through a crisis.
Basic commodities are readily not available and the country is battling to arrest unemployment and hyperinflation that has surpassed an annual of 700 percent as of August this year, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
This has posed viability challenges and eroded salaries of civil servants.
The southern African nation’s economy has been worsened by the impact of Coronavirus which has paralyzed many industries.
Teachers are among the worst affected groups.
Teachers, who are saying their salaries are the lowest in the SADC region are demanding a monthly minimum wage of $520.
As the plight of students worsen there are growing calls for the government to ditch piecemeal arrangements and find a holistic solution to teachers’ salaries problem.
“Our education is in a serious crisis, November 2020 candidates will not be ready for examinations in December. Government should urgently convene education stakeholders to resolve the ensuing crisis,” Obert Masaraure, Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president told Ubuntu Times.
He said even though they still have teachers who are consistently logging in they are not teaching and 98 percent of their teachers are not reporting for work.
“The few teachers who reported for duty on opening day are now leaving schools to join the majority who are still at home,” he said adding that learners in boarding schools were spending time in between hostels and dining halls.
Some schools, especially those in remote areas, are struggling to meet Ministry of Health conditions on social distancing and sanitization.
But, the government has given assurance that all is under control.
Speaking during a media briefing in early October, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said basic Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) that include face masks, sanitizers and disinfectants “have been distributed to all public and independent schools.”
This is all fake according to information gathered by Ubuntu Times.
John Mutisi, a headteacher in Buhera, in eastern Zimbabwe, whose name has been changed to protect his identity for fear of reprisal said he has been forced by the government to open the school with inadequate PPEs.
Mutisi’s worries are echoed by teachers’ unions who believe the government is neglecting them by exposing them to Coronavirus.
“There are no PPEs and no running water in several schools. Teachers have not been tested for COVID-19,” said Raymond Majongwe, the secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe.
Masaraure said PPEs were an essential requirement for schools to reopen.
“However, the government has failed to make these important essentials available thus risking the lives of teachers and learners,” he said.
Some Non-Governmental Organizations have come to the government’s rescue by providing PPEs in some schools in the country.
“We have provided handwashing stations and most of the schools in our areas have been making masks,” Shamiso Matambanadzo, World Vision Zimbabwe advocacy, communication and external engagement team leader told Ubuntu Times.
“Also, we have been distributing bars of soap, hand sanitizers, and buckets in preparation of schools opening.”
However, the government remains hopeful that a solution will be found.
Mutsvangwa said salary negotiations for civil servants were underway.
“Government is aware of the challenges facing civil servants including teachers and is committed to improving the welfare of its workers. Consultations are currently underway to consider the request by the Apex Council in the last negotiating meeting held with the Government,” she said.
There seem to be no lasting solution in sight to Zimbabwe’s crippling education sector.
While the government has in some sectors resorted to issuing threats to its workers, teachers are refusing to budge.
“Teachers continue to send a bold message to the employer, they are not going to be cowed by empty threats,” said Masaraure.
While the labor tension between the government and teachers continues, Madamombe and other students who are scheduled to write their national examinations this year will continue paying the ‘price’.
“I just hope we will soon start learning,” said Madamombe.
“I am worried about my future if I fail this examination.”