By Rutendo Jiri

The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Cain Mathema has declared the absenteeism by teachers in the opening week of schools illegal.

Schools opened this week beginning with examination classes, but witnessed a number of schools with absent teachers.  

Speaking to the Media, Minister Mathema said it was unjustified that teacher unions encourage their members to engage in industrial action against their employer without exhausting all constitutional channels to address their grievances.  

“Government is committed to the welfare of teachers. Salary negotiations are ongoing and have not been fully exhausted therefore any industrial action at the moment is illegal,” he said.

Earlier this week the Minister accused teacher unions of using Covid-19 to push for fast tracked salary negotiations and reiterated that Government will not hesitate to replace striking teachers.

“We have at least 10,000 teachers who are unemployed and if the crunch comes, we will be left with no option but to quickly employ some of those teachers,” said Mathema.

However, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) today released a statement in solidarity with striking teachers demanding that Government pay them their October 2018 salaries equivalent to $520.  

“Mathema should be reminded that teachers are not afraid of being fired. If government chooses to fire teachers, the illegality will be brought before the courts,” reads part of the statement.

Meanwhile, Government through the Public Service Commission (PSC) Secretary, Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe said that Government will this Friday start to pay out a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to civil servants to cushion them from the cost of living while salary negotiations are ongoing.