By A Correspondent- A recent survey by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) has revealed that most urban dwellers are in support of incentives for teachers, while 63% of their rural counterparts are against any monetary or non-monetary benefit they have been getting.

Read the report:

Zimbabweans are divided on whether to ban the payment of monetary and non-monetary incentives to teachers for extra lessons. 51% favour a ban on such payments while 46% oppose such a ban.

In cities, 63% of respondents oppose banning incentive payments to teachers while in rural areas, 60% favour such a ban.

Some teachers have been surviving on extra lessons as a result of their poor wages. Government is yet to increase them although they have been devalued to less than US$100 by the country’s ravaging inflation.

The same survey has found that two in every three people are in support of reintroducing corporal punishment in schools which had been banned in 2019 by the High Court.

Corporal punishment was heavily supported by women while 63% of male respondents were against its reintroduction. Said the report:

Urban residents (74%) are more likely than their rural counterparts (61%) to disagree with a ban on corporal punishment in schools.

The report also further noted that almost seven out of ten Zimbabweans (69%) want pregnant girls to be allowed to continue their education.

Zimbabwe has experienced a surge in teenage pregnancies, according to child rights organisations, who blame COVID-19 lockdowns and closing of schools over the periods.

The survey was conducted between March 28 and April 10, 2022, by MPOI on behalf of the Afrobarometer Network on “The Quality of Democracy and Governance in Zimbabwe.”