Rural Teachers Vow To Resist Premature Reopening Of Schools

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) has reiterated its position that schools should remain closed as long as the novel coronavirus is not yet under control.

In a statement to mark Workers Day on 1 May 2020, ARTUZ said opening schools prematurely will result in the decimation of workers and learners. The statement read:

ARTUZ will stand firm to defend the continued closure of schools, we will not condone the mass decimation of workers and our learners through a premature and ill-conceived opening of schools.

ARTUZ also commended the government for paying civil servants even when the country has been under lockdown for over a month.

The combative Union, however, urged the government to review the “paltry” salaries currently being earned by civil servants. It added:

We applaud the government for sustaining the payment of civil servants’ salaries during this crisis. The salaries, which remain paltry should be reviewed in line with the wave of price hikes we have witnessed.

Prices of basic goods and services are now pegged either in foreign currency or in bond notes cash. Civil servants can no longer transact as they only have plastic money.