Government Moves To Waiver Fees For Teachers' Children
The government is planning to waiver fees for teachers’ children as part of measures to alleviate complaints of poor remuneration.
This move is contained in a report by Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary education which focused on the welfare of teachers.
Presenting the report, Priscilla Mushonga, who chaired the committee said the Ministry of Finance has accepted the idea. She said:
As part of conditions of teachers, the Public Service Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should introduce a tuition fee waiver for up to three children attending public schools per teacher by October 2021.
We are very excited about this particular issue because when we started having discussions with the Minister of Public Service, their initial response was to do it for everyone and not just teachers.
I must however say by the time we went to meet Minister Ncube, it was one of the recommendations that he immediately liked and said he would try and factor it into the budget.
Mushonga added that those that work for ZESA get free electricity and those that are in the medical field when they are going to hospitals, get a waiver.
She added that it would be unfair for teachers to teach other children yet their own children will not be able to go to school.
Teachers have been complaining and demonstrating against poor salaries and have been demanding the restoration of their 2018 salaries that were around US$500.
The government has been emphatic that it cannot give them their stated salaries suggesting that some monetary benefits can be extended to them.
The lowest-paid teacher earns a monthly salary of ZW$19 975 (US$245) while the highest-paid is getting US$281.
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