IPTE 13 teachers have demanded the Ministry of Education to employ them on permanent basis as their five month contract is coming to an end this month.
The teachers have given the ministry two days to respond to their grievances failure of which they will conduct vigils from Monday at Parliament Building until their concerns are answered.
The teachers presented their petition to Parliament today asking Ministry of Education to put them on payroll after being on contract for five months.
The teachers who were trained in different teaching institutions were put on Five months contract from February to June and were pledged to be fully employed by the ministry once the contract comes to an end.
The petition has been received by Chairperson for Parliamentary Committee on Education Brenex Kaisi.
Speaking with reporters, Representative of the Teachers Joseph Muweru said they have noted that Ministry of Finance has not allocated any funds for the recruitment process of the teachers yet the Ministry of Education is aware of the matter at hand.
One of the concerned teachers from Mtsiliza LEA School Shadreck Matonga said it is very worrisome that the teachers who are on contract are receiving 80 Thousand Kwacha per month while those who are on payroll receive 140 Thousand Kwacha despite the fact that their services are the same.
Matonga went to on to say that the ministry was well aware that some of the teachers were employed at private schools which was much better in terms of salaries.
“Our contract has expired; rumors are going around saying the ministry wants to renew this contract with two months which is very unfair considering that the money is not enough. We have different responsibilities we can’t rely on that money forever as prices of commodities are not the same yet there is no salary increment,” he explained.
On his part, Ngwenya Primary School Teacher Henry Frackson said government should consider that the teachers are still at risk of contracting Covid-19 since pupil teacher ratio is very high.
