Staff Reporter

 The 2022 school year got off to a smooth start with a few glitches being witnessed on the first day.

A survey done by this publication revealed that most schools opened without any hassles and there was strict adherence to COVID-19 precautionary measures.

This publication visited several schools in Harare and witnessed a hive of activity with teachers and learners all trying to adjust to the first day of the term. Teachers seemed to have ignored the call by their representatives to boycott classes as they conducted their business diligently.

A teacher at Cranborne Boys High who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity, said that they chose to attend to classes as they had hopes that Government was working towards improving their salaries.

“We get the communication from our representatives to boycott classes, but we saw it inhumane to punish innocent children. We would rather do our job while we wait for the Government to look into the issue of our salaries,” said the teacher.

At Nharira Primary Schools in Mbare, the majority of the teachers came to work and they were busy attending to their classes. One teacher who declined to be named said that teaching was a calling and she would rather come to work than be at home doing nothing.

“Teaching is a calling. I would rather be in class attending to the kids instead of being at home doing nothing. Yes we want the Government to improve our working conditions, but boycotting classes is the least we can do to force Government to look into the issue of our salaries,” said the Nharira teacher.

Last week, the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) declared that its members were incapacitated and would not attend classes until their salaries were improved. However, most teachers seemed to have ignored ZIMTA as they went to work as was expected.