Pupils turned away as most schools fail to open

Pupils turned away as most schools fail to open

CHAOS: Pupils turned away on first day of schools due to a teachers' strike

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Posted to the web: 27/01/2009 13:37:13
ZIMBABWEAN schools turned pupils away Tuesday on the opening day of the academic year as teachers protested monthly salaries that due to run-away inflation are as low as US$3.

More than 80 percent of teachers had heeded calls to strike, continuing with action that had begun last year, said Raymond Majongwe, head of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ).

"Teachers are sending a clear message that we are suffering. Government must start engaging us positively," Majongwe told AFP.

Schools in the capital Harare asked pupils to return home after teachers failed to show.

"We have reached an 80 percent success rate as teachers did not report for work across the country. We will be hitting the 100 percent mark on Thursday," Majongwe warned.

Zimbabwe's education ministry had put back school opening day by two weeks to Tuesday, blaming a delay in the marking of last year's exam papers.

Many Zimbabwean teachers have fled to neighbouring countries in recent years because of the low salaries and the economic crisis ravaging the once prosperous southern African country.

The strike comes with Zimbabwe still in the grip of a political crisis four months after President Robert Mugabe signed a power-sharing deal with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

A summit of regional leaders on Tuesday gave Mugabe and Tsvangirai until mid-February to form a unity government, but the opposition refused to commit to the latest timeline.

Zimbabwean teachers were this month paid Z$26 trillion, worth just US$3 on the parallel market where most currency trading is done.

Teachers went on strike for the greater part of 2008 demanding to be paid salaries in line with the ever rising inflation, last estimated at 231 million percent in July, but believed to be even higher now.

The teachers are demanding monthly salaries that would amount to US$2,200 before they will return to work.

Schools have proposed charging fees in foreign currency as the Zimbabwe dollar loses value every day.

Last year's examinations papers are still to be marked. - AFP

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