Teachers and trade unionists living in Zimbabwe face intimidation, violence, AIDS and possible starvation. Janine Mace reports.

When most Australians think about Zimbabwe, they remember the team boycotts that overshadowed the recent Cricket World Cup.

But Paul Kaplan, an organiser with the State Schools Teachers Union of WA, thinks about the beautiful country he grew up in and the appalling conditions facing teachers working in the Zimbabwean education system. Just last year, 627 teachers were sacked for going on strike to improve their poor salary levels. At the same time, there has been extensive use of violence against teachers and unionists, with beatings, rape and even torture used to intimidate any perceived opposition to the rule of President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party. “As a Zimbabwean, it is very sad and depressing,” Kaplan says. “It is a terrible situation and has been deteriorating for years. Teachers have borne the brunt of it.”

Teachers are targeted

The singling out of teachers and unionists stems from the leadership role taken by trade unions in opposing the Mugabe government. The main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has its roots in the Zimbabwean trade union movement, with its current leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, coming from the national mineworkers' union. “Teachers have been targeted as they are seen by Mugabe as being in opposition to him,” Kaplan says. This has led to schools being closed and teachers violently beaten with sticks, whips and chains.

Thousands of teachers have already fled to other southern African nations and the United Kingdom to escape the oppressive regime. As a result, class sizes have spiralled and morale amongst teachers has plummeted. Writing on the MDC website, Fidelis Mhashu, the shadow minister for education, explains: “Teachers have no choice but to engage in various other activities to supplement their meagre salaries, compromising the quality of education imparted onto our children”.

With the Zimbabwean economy in free fall, unemployment running at over 50 per cent and countrywide food shortages, teachers face enormous difficulties simply feeding themselves. Although food relief is being distributed, recent reports indicate that teachers in regional areas are being denied maize meal and grain.

Salaries for survival

The strike in October last year was sparked by the low wages paid to teachers working in public schools. At that time, with first-year graduates earning $Z27,000 ($A54) a month, teachers were seeking a 200 per cent wage increase to survive in an economy where inflation is skyrocketing. In January this year, teachers were awarded salary increases that will see entry-level salaries rise almost double to Z$53,000, according to Zimbabwe's Standard newspaper, compared with a nurse's salary of Z$90,000.

“Teachers' wages are very poor in relation to other public servants such as nurses or police,” Kaplan explains. “It is symptomatic of the government's attitude to education.”

While education is available for the elite at private schools, the government has neglected the public school system, despite Zimbabwe enjoying an education system at independence in 1980 that was the envy of most African nations. In rural areas, school closures are leaving children with no access to education at all.

According to the Zimbabwean press, teachers who participated in the strike face transfer to remote and politically volatile regions and will be ineligible for promotion until early 2005.

AIDS is widespread

While the teachers are campaigning primarily for a living wage, they are also focusing on issues such as prohibitive fees facing poor students and the numerous human rights violations occurring around the country.

“Teachers have become prime targets for Mugabe due to their stand on these issues,” Kaplan says.

In addition to facing violence and victimisation due to their position in society and outspoken criticisms of the government, Zimbabwean teachers also face a massive problem with HIV/AIDS. One in four teachers are affected by the virus, in a country where one-third of the population suffers from the disease.

Low salaries and limited benefits are forcing teachers to continue working as long as they can, even when the disease is well advanced. AIDS-related deaths are further exacerbating the teacher shortage created by political harassment and violence. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is currently assisting teachers' union ZIMTA to raise awareness of AIDS amongst Zimbabwean teachers and develop AIDS-prevention teaching materials and training for its members. According to the AFT, the loss of experienced teachers means unqualified temporary workers and new graduates are being used to replace educators dying in the pandemic.

But what of the future? Kaplan now feels more confidence about Zimbabwe's future than he has in a long time. “In the last couple of weeks people have started resisting in a massive way,” he says.

He says the “two-day stay away by millions of Zimbabweans” in March closed the big cities and saw the majority of the population comply with the declaration of an anti-government strike, even though the government threatened retaliation. Media reports confirm that key parliamentary by-elections in several districts have been won handsomely by the MDC.

It is these recent events that give Kaplan hope that the darkest days may be over. “There are some optimistic signs now,” he says. “It shows that no matter how people are set upon, their defiance is coming through. They are trying to restore democracy.”

JANINE MACE is a freelance writer.

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Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
NGO Network Alliance Project, Education International