Zimbabwe teachers’ strike called off

Teachers in Zimbabwe today called off a strike even though their wage demands have not been met, after the government agreed to scrap fees for teachers’ own children. The stand down comes as the government has slashed school fees for the new term.

The union last week threatened to strike when schools opened after a long holiday. Teachers are paid $100 (£66) a month, which they say is too little to meet basic, needs and pay school fees for their children. Unions wanted four times as much. The government said it had no money to raise their salaries, but he had agreed to help teachers by giving their children free schooling. "We are going back to work but that does not mean teachers are happy," Tendai Chikowore, president of the Zimbabwe Teachers' Association, told Agence France Presse news agency (AFP). "The government has tried to meet one of our demands. We appreciate the efforts being made to address our concerns and we decided to reciprocate by going back to work."

Education minister David Coltart has been in long talks with unions and foreign aid donors to make sure the schools reopened in time for the new term. The Zimbabwean government has also met unions' demand for a huge cut in school fees - which most parents cannot afford - to get children back into the classroom.

Zimbabwe's state education system had virtually collapsed until the new power-sharing government agreed to pay teachers in foreign currency in February. Mr Coltart said that although the new term would begin, the education system was a "shadow" of what it had been. "The doors may open, there may be children in the classrooms and teachers teaching, but there are very few textbooks in the rural areas and many schools do not have roofs or doors or windows," he told the BBC. Mr Coltart, a former opposition activist, said the state of the service was down to two decades of neglect by President Robert Mugabe's government.

Raymond Majongwe, head of the Progressive Teachers' Union, said going back to work was the "responsible" thing to do, even though all their demands had not been met. He told the BBC's Network Africa programme: "We have no reason to proceed with the strike action that will do nothing but confuse the situation that we are trying to ultimately address. "As the government does not have the capacity to address the problems that it faces, so the donors need to chip in."

Last week, African countries agreed to give Zimbabwe $400m-worth of credit.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children