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ZNUT bemoans deplorable conditions for teachers

ZNUT bemoans deplorable conditions for teachers
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Saturday October 06, 2007 [04:00]

TEACHERS in Zambia are working under the most deplorable conditions, Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) secretary general Roy Mwaba has said. And Mwaba said teachers who were molesting and impregnating pupils were denting the image of the profession and should be flushed out. Commenting on the World Teachers Day, under the theme, 'Quality teachers for quality education' which fell yesterday, Mwaba said teachers sometimes worked under trees.

He said teachers were demanding for a decent working environment that was safe and healthy for them and the learners.

"There are inadequate classroom spaces especially in rural areas. Even where classrooms are available, they are not of the required standard, making the work of a teacher unmanageable. We believe that work must not be endured and must be enjoyed under a healthy environment," he said.

Mwaba further said that Zambian teachers had for a long time endured the pressure of work conferred on them due to the high-class sizes.
He said the low number of teachers in Zambia put pressure on their workload exacerbated by the increased enrolment levels.

Mwaba said since 2003, the recruitment of teachers had not kept pace with the increased enrolment levels where class sizes had soared to unprecedented levels.
"In realising this problem, we demand for the recruitment of all graduate teachers to ensure appropriate class-sizes. We also demand for the provision of adequate pedagogical resources in the classroom," he said.

He appealed to the government to take the issue of teacher's conditions of service as teaching was a motivating job.
"The lowest a teacher gets for housing allowance is K100,000 and there is no where you will find good accommodation for that amount in Lusaka so we want it to be at least increased from K100,000 to K250,000," he said.

He said the lowest and highest salary for a diploma holder was K900,000 and K1.3 million respectively while for degree holders, the lowest and highest was K1.5 million and K1.8 million respectively.

Mwaba urged the government to implement the collective agreement that was signed early this year.
"The collective agreement has not been implemented. There were house loans, car loans, furniture loans, bicycle loans but when teachers apply for loans, they are told that there is no money. We want to appeal to government to respect the collective agreement. Negotiations for 2008 should start now instead of when the budget is passed because when negotiations delay, government always blames us and uses that lame excuse that we started negotiations late so we are saying they should start now," said Mwaba.

And education deputy minister Lucy Changwe said in providing quality education, the government had focused on improving and expanding infrastructure through rehabilitation and construction of school buildings and teachers houses.

Changwe said the government recently deployed over 6,000 male and female teachers countrywide.
She said the government had put in place deliberate efforts to address the working conditions of teachers by entering into agreements with teacher unions.
Meanwhile, Mwaba said teaching was supposed to be a noble profession even though some teachers acted differently.
He said as teachers, they were not commemorating the day because there was anything to celebrate but because it was a calling.
"We are doing it because we have a passion for children and parents. In the children, we see ministers, engineers and all and pride comes from that. We are role models and are supposed to make a difference in society but unfortunately, there are some teachers who do not behave in that way. They molest and impregnant pupils. This has made society doubt our profession," he said.

"Teaching is still a noble profession and we need to work together to identify the few who are denting the image of the profession and flash them out, we totally condemn such teachers."

And Mwaba commended the government for being consistent in the recruitment of teachers.
"Last year, government recruited 10,000 teachers and 6,000 this year and is likely to recruit 4,000 more before the end of the year. This is a move in the right direction," said Mwaba.

Labels: TEACHERS, ZNUT

posted by MrK @ 6:39 AM