Zimbabwean teachers say right to education under threat

ANKARA (AA) - The right to education in Zimbabwe is under serious threat, a local NGO warned in a statement Wednesday.

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), a trade union for rural school teachers, said insufficient government funding, lack of teaching materials, inadequate infrastructure, corruption, disorganized curricula, climate change, political interference and poor teacher salaries threatened access to education in the country.

On average, a Zimbabwean teacher earns 1,200 Zimbabwean dollars ($70) monthly.

ARTUZ underlined that under the current circumstances, parents could play a vital role in improving the students' access to their right to education, according to the Zimbabwe-based Pindula news website.

"Zimbabwe has a shortage of over 2,000 schools. Our learners cannot be accommodated in conventional schools. Individuals are plugging this gap, but they don’t have enough resources to construct proper private schools," Obert Masaraure, president of ARTUZ, told Anadolu Agency earlier last month.

However, the Zimbabwean government has claimed to have invested in over 5,750 primary schools and 2,300 secondary schools since its independence in 1980, boasting employment of more than 70,000 primary school teachers, 90% of whom have academic education.

According to Masaraure, teachers in the country are "disillusioned by the conditions of service in government-run schools, they are resorting to coming up with their own learning centers for survival."