We Want To Build Patriotic Teachers, Says Teachers4ED

The newly-formed Teachers for Economic Development (Trs4ED) teachers’ union says it aims to build patriotic and conscious teachers who will be implementers of national programmes, reported The Sunday Mail.

Speaking at a seminar in Harare, Trs4ED secretary-general, Takaiteyi Masikati, said the organisation was established to support President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030. He said:

It is this vision and perfect dream that prompted the formation of Trs4ED so that principal directors, directors, provincial education directors, district schools’ inspectors, inspectors, heads and teachers included make a contribution in a practical sense so that we produce goods and services for the nation.

Masikati claimed the organisation had so far started and registered seven companies in different provinces to benefit teachers.

When Teachers4ED was launched, other teachers’ unions condemned the move saying it is a strategy to frustrate their fight for better working conditions.

Meanwhile, established teachers’ unions such as the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) have been demanding the restoration of civil servants’ pre-October 2018 salaries of US$540.