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Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsRural teachers panic as economic meltdown persists

Rural teachers panic as economic meltdown persists

As the economy continues to take a nosedive, rural teachers have registered their disappointment over the manner in which government is handling the economic affairs saying this will fuel the reminiscence of the 2008 scenario, a period characterized by hyperinflation, which rocketed to an astronomical 231 million per cent and empty shelves in supermarkets.

In a statement, Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (RTUZ) National president, Obert Masaraure, said their members are living in fear of a recurrence of the 2008 economic woes which saw teachers losing their salaries. He also said the decade of economic meltdown hindered progress in the educational sector.

“Our members are living in fear of sliding back to the 2008 economic meltdown. A meltdown which robbed our teachers of their salaries. This also caused severe strikes by our members and affected the educational sector to a large extent,” reads the statement.

The Union said rural teachers remain marginalized as they do not have alternative sources of income besides their salaries as compared to their urban counterparts who can turn to vending if the situation remains dire.

“We as rural teachers do not have any means of survival apart from the stipulated salaries from government.

“We cannot turn to vending because there is no one to sell the goods to here in the rural areas,” said Masaraure adding that the current economic situation will once again see the collapse of the education sector as colleges and schools will close due to shortages of teachers.

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The mere imagination of Zimbabwe sliding back to that era rattles the nerves of every rightly wired Zimbabwean.

Emirates

“Our case has clearly become a case of a tail wagging the dog. The tail can no longer protect the dog from flies and other vagaries of the environment.

“The tail which is government is sacrificing the whole dog, the citizens and has slid into a mode of self-aggrandizement characterized with wanton looting of resources while the dog starves. The dog must surely wake up and realize the power it wields and start waging the tail,” said Masaraure urging teachers to force government to revive the economy by putting in place policies which guard against further deterioration of the economy.

Masaraure said RTUZ applauds the church for coming out condemning the government for failing to run the affairs of the country.

He also paid tribute to Zimbabwe Activists Alliance (ZAA) for initiating the now popular occupy Africa Unity square agenda and opposition parties for initiating coalition talks saying the bold leadership will surely “see the dog waging the tail.”

He added that teachers are not going to fold hands in this new trajectory but will fight until government accounts for its misrule .

“Demanding services from the incumbent regime is now akin to beating a dead horse and expect it to rise and win a race. We do not owe any apology to neither this government nor its surrogates occupying the labor space. It is no longer business as usual, we are stepping up to save our country,” charged Masaraure.

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Multi-award winning journalist/photojournalist with keen interests in politics, youth, child rights, women and development issues. Follow Lovejoy On Twitter @L_JayMut

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