Minister Says Unemployed Teachers Returning From SA Should Replace Underperformers

Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Albert Nguluvhe has called on the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to sack non-performing teachers, saying there is now a pool of unemployed Zimbabwean teachers who have returned from South Africa after fleeing xenophobia in recent months.

Nguluvhe was speaking during the Provincial Schools Sports, Science and Arts Festival held in Beitbridge.

He said the pass rate in the province remains low, adding that out of 68 students who graduated from Gwanda State University, the local university, only three were from Matabeleland South.

In 2025, 11 schools in the province recorded a zero per cent pass rate at Grade 7, he said.

“We should identify teachers who are not working; they should pack their bags and go. We have a lot of teachers who want jobs. I saw a lot of teachers who have returned from SA,” said Nguluvhe.

“Teachers should work hard so that children will also work hard. Of the 68 students who graduated from Gwanda State University last year, only 3 were from Mat South. We cannot tolerate such.”

However, there has been a public outcry over teachers’ conditions of service and the lack of incentive for them to work hard.

Teachers currently earn less than the US$540 they were earning before the currency changes in October 2018.

To make matters worse, civil servants are paid partly in US dollars and partly in ZiG, which many regard as undesirable.

More: Masvingo Mirror

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Qualified But Unemployed For Six Years: Minister Reveals Plight Of Teachers Waiting To Be Deployed Don’t blame teachers for low pass rates – union