Harare- The Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD) has bemoaned the conditions of service for teachers calling on government to immediately review their salaries and end the ongoing mass exodus of Zimbabwe’s educators

In a statement issued recently, LEAD said failure by government to heed and rectify the current challenges in the education sector amounted to “state sponsored educational collapse.”

Said LEAD:

We are deeply alarmed by the revelations from seasoned trade unionist Takavafira Zhou, exposing a mass exodus of teachers from the public sector due to poor salaries, rampant corruption in recruitment and promotion processes, and the unbearable working conditions endured by Zimbabwean educators.

According to Zhou, 15,000 teachers that is about 1% of the government-employed teaching workforce are resigning annually.

This represents a shocking brain drain and talent haemorrhage, worsened by the government’s failure to replace teachers, leaving over 50,000 posts vacant.

In some cases, one teacher is responsible for as many as 65 pupils, while in primary schools, teachers are made to teach multiple grades simultaneously. This is not education. It is state-sponsored educational collapse.

Instead of confronting this harsh reality and fixing the rot, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, through its spokesperson Taungana Nyandoro, has chosen to downplay and deny the crisis by claiming only 5,000 resignations annually.

Whether 5,000 or 15,000, the facts remain: our education system is broken, and the government’s denialism is a disservice to the nation.

LEAD’s Position and Solutions

LEAD believes that education is a non-negotiable pillar of national development, and the treatment of teachers reflects the government’s priorities.

What we are witnessing is not an accident. It is a systematic disregard for public education, driven by greed, mismanagement, and misplaced priorities.

In line with our ideology of Labour Justice, Economic Justice, and Socioeconomic Equity, LEAD proposes the following urgent interventions:

1. Immediate salary review and pegging all teachers’ salaries to a living wage indexed in USD or a stable equivalent. Teachers deserve dignified and competitive remuneration reflective of their contribution to national development.
2. Transparent recruitment and promotion. End nepotism and political gatekeeping in teacher recruitment and promotion by establishing an independent Education Human Resources Council to oversee appointments based on merit and regional balance.
3. Teacher retention and motivation strategy. Introduce non-monetary benefits such as housing allowances, car schemes, scholarships for children of teachers, and mental wellness programs to improve morale.
4. Reform teacher training and workloads. Employ more teachers to reduce class sizes and allocate specific teachers per grade to improve learner attention and teacher efficacy.
5. Digital skills & tech-integrated curriculum. Invest in teacher upskilling for the 21st century through continuous professional development in ICT, AI, coding, and STEM subjects, preparing learners for a globally competitive environment.
6. Zero tolerance to corruption. Establish a Whistleblower Protection Framework within the education sector and investigate all allegations of corruption in deployments, school inspections, and exam leakages.
7. Free and inclusive basic education. Fully implement Section 75 of the Constitution, guaranteeing every child access to free, quality basic education without discrimination or cost barriers.

Zimbabwe can not afford to gamble with its future. Our education system is the bedrock of national prosperity, and our teachers are nation-builders.

If the government continues to ignore this crisis, they are sabotaging the future of our children and country.

LEAD remains committed to building a Zimbabwe that prioritizes people over politics, education over propaganda, and progress over patronage.

Linda Tsungirirai Masarira
President – Labour Economists and Afrikan Democrats (LEAD)