TEACHERS have petitioned Parliament demanding that
Government immediately releases a teacher salary rescue package of US$200 on
top of their RTGS salaries saying earnings have been eroded by inflation.
Speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda on Tuesday
advised Parliamentarians that he had received the petition from the Zimbabwe
Teachers’ Association (Zimta) and the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe
(PTUZ).
“I wish to advise the House that on June 14, 2019,
Parliament of Zimbabwe received a petition from the Zimta and PTUZ beseeching
Parliament to ensure that the Government reviews teachers’ salaries according
to the prevailing inflation and interbank market rates.
“The associations have said they want teachers to be paid
at least US$200 in addition to their RTGS dollar salaries,” said Advocate
Mudenda.
He said the petition has since been referred to the
Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
In an interview yesterday, Zimta president Mr Richard
Gundane said Government must urgently pay the rescue package.
“Schools are also
under great pressure and financial stress. Government should consider
strengthening safety nets to protect the learner’s right to quality education
in keeping with SDG 4.
“SDG 4 calls for inclusive and equitable quality education
and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all. Education is a
fundamental human right and is indispensable for the achievement of sustainable
development,” said Mr Gundane.
Last month, Finance and Economic Development Minister
Professor Mthuli Ncube told Parliament that Government will continue to engage
civil servants and adjust their salaries against the prevailing inflation
levels but not the foreign currency
exchange rate.
Responding to MPs questions, Prof Ncube said Government
cannot benchmark its workers’ salaries on the RTGS dollar exchange rate to the
United States dollar.
Minister Ncube said Government had recorded surplus revenue
in both RTGS and US dollars, which has benefited civil servants and other
humanitarian needs such as Cyclone Idai relief efforts.
“First of all, when
you think of salary adjustments for the civil servants, we never benchmark to
an exchange rate to the USD in which case he’s used a parallel market rate of
1:8. We don’t do that. We try to bench mark salaries to the inflation level and
that is how it ought to be done,” he said.
“Secondly, should we give civil servants an increase in
line with the exchange rate which some Members of Parliament are mentioning?
The answer is no. We’ll continue to engage the civil servants and it will be an
increase that begins to ameliorate against the current levels of inflation and
we’ll continue to engage them so that we can adjust their emoluments both in
monetary and non-monetary terms.” Herald
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