Ministry Cannot Effect A Blanket Suspension Of Teachers - PTUZ
The Progressive Teachers Union Zimbabwe (PTUZ) says the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education does not have the power to effect a blanket suspension of teachers who have been on strike since schools opened for the 2022 first term on Monday.
On Thursday Education minister Evelyn Ndlovu announced that the striking had teachers had been suspended for three months without pay.
PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou called on the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to assist teachers to lobby both the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Finance Minister to capacitate teachers by paying them US$540. Said Zhou:
The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education has no power to suspend Teachers. In October 2002, the then Minister of Education T.K. Tsodzo suspended 629 PTUZ aligned teachers in Harare due to a Union led strike.
The courts ruled that the Minister had no locus standi to suspend teachers. All the 629 teachers were reinstated, but of course after some inconvenience of going for some months on half salary and food hampers that the Union could afford then.
So the current Minister is walking along the defective path that already has a precedent ruling.
He added that even the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare cannot blanketly suspend teachers but has to do that by writing letters to individual teachers.
Zhou dismissed the notion that teachers are on strike, but are rather incapacitated, saying the only solution to the problem is to capacitate teachers. He added:
As PTUZ we are ready to take the legal route once any of our members receive a suspension letter.
It is sad that instead of adopting a more considerate approach permeable to reason and facts the Ministry officials and the Government have decided to use defective command and control tactics that have no traction.
That decision is tantamount to closing schools as more than 135 000 teachers out of 14 000 are incapacitated.
One wonders whether this is what she calls an open door policy when her door is closed.
Is it because she is surrounded by criminals, we wonder?
Zhou urged teachers to remain calm and to get in touch with the nearest PTUZ leaders once they receive suspension letters.
He also implored school heads not to be abused by the system which he said had incapacitated them but to bear in mind that the push for a living wage is for their benefit as well.
