By- The government said it was not going to review teachers’ salaries any time soon.
The government said it cannot raise teachers’ salaries each time schools open.
Public Service and Social Welfare Minister Paul Mavima on Friday, 29 April told NewsDay that teacher’s packages cannot be changed every time schools open and educators need to exercise patience while their grievances are addressed through dialogue. Said Mavima:
We just changed the package for teachers, and we cannot change that package each time schools open.
We are getting into the second quarter, and we need them to be patient and go through the negotiation process.
If there is any need for a review, it will be determined during the negotiation process.
We must also realise that there was something special that we did for teachers including the $20 000 per child school fees package, which will support up to three children in government institutions.
Mavima said the Government will facilitate the construction of decent accommodation for teachers at public schools. He said:
This will be institutional housing so that we don’t have problems and teachers have to be in very good decent housing.
We are undertaking that aggressive programme to provide housing for teachers.
Schools are scheduled to open for the second term on 3 May but teachers’ representatives have threatened not to report for duty saying they are financially incapacitated.
Teachers want the Government to revert to their pre-October 2018 salary of US$540 saying the US$175 they are currently getting is not sustainable.