Bullying tactics will not work

OUR government has, for years, been failing to exercise rationality when dealing with its workers, especially those from the education and health sectors. Authorities at Munhumutapa Building continue to bully workers who are trying to earn a living for their suffering families.

It is not a secret that government employees have become the poorest in the country, with their salaries and wages barely enough to sustain their lives.

And the recent directive for teachers not to conduct holiday lessons is not only detrimental to the growth of children, but also negatively impacts the demotivated educators.

Government recently banned schools from conducting lessons during the holiday in a circular dated March 25, 2024, saying pupils required a break because learning during the first term was uninterrupted.

The educators have defied the government threat against conducting holiday lessons.

And, yes, there is no law in Zimbabwe that bars them from doing so.

That there is selective application of the law has been laid bare after Police Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga authorised the leadership at the ZRP High Boarding School to do the same thing he is condemning in public.

The school has been conducting lessons. It has two batches. The first batch had lessons from April 4 to 15. The second batch will have classes from April 19 to 30.

Internal students pay a fee of US$100, while external ones will fork out US$159.

It seems authorities are bent on having their children enjoy all the advantages while those from poor families are deprived of even basic human rights such as education.

The approval granted to elite schools to conduct holiday lessons exposes government’s partiality.

Primary and Secondary Education ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro argues for prioritising “the well-being and independent learning of pupils during this break”, but we are way beyond that.

Parents are more concerned about the future of their children, hence they will go to greater lengths to make sure that they compensate for the lethargy that has destroyed formal education, especially in government learning institutions.

Parents and guardians are paying incentives to teachers as motivation since the employer, government, has failed to take care of its workers.

The parents and guardians are determined to see their children pass at the end of the year.

We argue that education is a right and schools should be allowed to teach students over the holidays if teachers and parents are on the same wavelength.

Education should not be discriminatory as we are observing after some schools were given approval to have holiday lessons.

Zimbabwe is not an animal farm, where “some animals are more equal than others”.

We call for positive engagement between authorities and the teachers so that the latter do their work without hindrance.

The teachers are right to ignore a government which exhibits such disrespect and bullying tactics as ordinary children lose out during their formative years.