Source: Teachers in limbo after abrupt transfer orders -Newsday Zimbabwe
A GOVERNMENT directive to immediately withdraw State-funded teachers from private schools has thrown the education sector in Glen View-Mufakose into chaos, leaving approximately 33 teachers in professional limbo and sparking outrage from unions.
The policy, intended to address staffing shortage in public schools by recalling teachers from private institutions, has been implemented in what critics called a “haphazard and punitive” manner.
At Mufakose Mhuriimwe Secondary School, a private institution, teachers received blanket transfer notices late last week, often without being informed of their new posting.
“We are being moved like pieces on a chessboard,” said one high schoolteacher, who spoke to NewsDay on condition of anonymity.
“I have served here for eight years. Now I’m told to transfer immediately, but no one can tell me if I’m going to a rural school or even where my new destination is.”
Another distressed teacher lamented the abrupt severance of relationships with students.
“We have not received any new job offers from the government.
“It is painful to know our connections with these children are about to be broken,” the educator said.
Harare provincial education director Joram Mupunza defended the move, framing it as withdrawal of a State subsidy from private entities.
“These guys indicated that they are a private institution and they want to run their school in their own way, hence the government cannot fund them,” he said.
“This is an ongoing process and teachers have been given two options: either to remain at private schools or to go to any other government school.
“They have the option to resign on a government salary and rejoin private schools. So, we are waiting for their responses and we take it from there.”
However, this purported choice was contradicted by the teachers’ accounts of compulsory, destination-less transfer forms issued on January 12.
The Educators’ Union of Zimbabwe (EUZ) strongly condemned the move, arguing that the process violated public service regulations.
“We have since engaged with the relevant education authorities on the matter, having discovered that the current transfer instructions given to teachers are not consistent with public service regulations,” said EUZ secretary- general Tapedza Zhou.
The union demanded that teachers be allowed to finish the current term to allow for proper transition.
“We have particularly recommended that stakeholders to the issue adhere to our statutes for smooth transitional processes,” Zhou said.
“Teachers should carry on with their normal duties up to the end of this term, by which time the anticipated transfer processes will have been carried out.”
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Service chairperson Dexter Malinganiso said he needed to consult the Public Service Commission for clarity.
Primary and Secondary Education ministry director of communications and advocacy Taungana Ndoro told NewsDay that the ministry’s priority was to ensure uninterrupted access to quality education for all learners.
Ndoro said teacher deployment was a necessary administrative measure to achieve equitable distribution of teaching staff across the country.
Affected teachers described the current exercise as procedurally flawed and disruptive.
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