Amalgamated Rural Teachers Unions of Zimbabwe {ARTUZ}, President Obert Masaraure today acknowledged the Minister of Finance Professor Mthuli Ncube for agreeing to release funds for teachers to pay for their children’s school fees.
Earlier this year the government made a commitment to pay school fees for every teacher’s three biological children.
However, the government failed to honor its commitment during the 2022 first term which ended on 3 April.
But in an interview with 263 times Obert Masaraure approved the government’s initiative.
He urged the government to increase the funds insisting that the figures pegged by the government might be eroded by inflation.
“It is true that the minister of finance wrote back to us on the 11th of April advising that they are working on modalities, to ensure that they disburse the promised fees payment for our children.
“But we are also worried of the inflationary environment. We have noted that schools are hiking the fees at tertiary institutions even at a basic level so what that means is the 20 000 RTGS might not be substantial contributions from our employer and we are urging our government to think of reviewing the figure upwards for individual learners,” he said.
The government move to pay fees for the children of teachers comes after Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) Secretary-General Robson Chere requested Ncube to expedite the payment of school fees for children of teachers in a letter which was dated 21 March 2022.
Meanwhile, the government’s step to pay school fees for teachers children is part of beneficiary measures that the government and teachers representative bodies assume will ease teachers’ economic grievances.
