Teachers need to play catch up

THE Covid-19 has grossly affected our education system as learners have lost valuable hours of schooling due to incessant closures since March 2020 when the virulent disease forced the country to effect drastic lockdown measures.

As the novel virus swept across the globe killing millions, governments took the bold step to shut down everything to save lives.

Only essential services were left to operate in the face of the deadly pandemic that saw infections rising exponentially.

The education sector was not spared. Learners were sent back home for months as learning institutions had become hotspots.

Examination classes were affected over the past two years but Government rolled out critical measures to ensure continuity.

As a result, the school calendar was not derailed and examinations were conducted over the two years, albeit in difficult circumstances. Pupils had little time to prepare.

To close the gap, online lessons were encouraged to minimise interaction and consequently curtail the spread of the infection.

However, online education has not been able to adequately cover for lost time. In some remote areas with no internet connectivity, online education remains a pipe dream.

Now that the world is slowly winning the war against Covid-19 and most nations have opened up their economies in varying proportions, it is the hope of many that the education sector will quickly catch up and ensure that learners cover ground.

Parents and guardians would like to see their children sweat it out and come up with good results in the shortest possible time.

Sadly, when everything seems to be going in the right direction, reports that some teachers have downed tools to force salary increment are worrisome.

According to a report published by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education on Monday, at least 60 percent of teachers reported for duty countrywide.

Yes, it is their right to hold peaceful industrial actions but at this point in time the timing is bad, especially considering Government’s efforts to cushion them economically.

Over the past few months, Government has made significance progress in improving the welfare of its workers.

Representatives of civil servants and the

Government are always meeting on the negotiating table to review the salaries and other conditions of service.

Last year, civil servants received their bonuses in foreign currency, something that most private companies could not do.

The National Joint Negotiating Committee then held a meeting early this year to lay down the guiding framework on how public sector wages and living conditions can be made better throughout the year.

As a result of those deliberations, with effect from 1 March, every civil servant will now be taking home US$175, up from the US$75 they have been getting over the last few months.

This is on top of their Zimbabwe dollar salary component.

Teachers can now sleep easy knowing that Government will be taking care of their biological children’s school fees, with an upper limit of $20 000 per child per term.

Such decisions by the Government must be applauded and it is hoped that any teacher who had been dragging their feet will be spurred to action.

Teachers should now put their shoulders to the wheel and ensure that school children catch up on their syllabi as the first term started late. Access to education is the inalienable right of every child and the call for duty must compel every teacher to conduct lessons diligently.