Teachers bear brunt of staff headcount

News
The on-going staff audit in schools has seen teachers who are supposed to be on leave returning to their work stations to safeguard their jobs as over 3 000 colleagues face dismissal after having been found not at their schools during the headcount.

The on-going staff audit in schools has seen teachers who are supposed to be on leave returning to their work stations to safeguard their jobs as over 3 000 colleagues face dismissal after having been found not at their schools during the headcount.

By Staff Reporters

Most of the affected teachers still have their salaries withheld until verification of their whereabouts on the day in question is completed.

The official hot-sitting system in schools whereby teachers reported for work either in the morning or afternoon depending on their session that week, has also been trashed as every teacher must now be at their workplaces as early as 7:30am until 4:30pm to avoid the risk of being fired, or having their salaries withheld.

Many teachers interviewed by The Standard last week said the exercise was to a great extent being used to abuse them.

Teachers complain that they have not been provided with a schedule of the visits by the staff auditors, and as such their lives were being disrupted as they must be at their workstations at all times, even when they were supposed to be off or away on official leave.

“It is really bad. Some people who used to supplement their salaries with cross-border trading have been caught up in the confusion as they have to be here even when they are supposed to be on leave,” one of the headmasters in Seke district said.

“Some have spouses that are based outside the country and others have other businesses to attend to, but they have had to stop. Whether a teacher is supposed to start work at 1pm, it does not matter; they still have to be at work at 8am so that they will be around in case the headcount is conducted earlier,” one headmaster at a Harare school said.

A teacher from Highfield said the audit affected their holidays as they were forced to report for duty during holidays.

“There was great panic among teachers, especially after some failed to get their salaries following the visit by the audit team. Even those that were sick, or officially on leave, had their salaries frozen,” she said.

“At our school we have been instructed to report for work at 7:45am until 4:30pm just in case the officials arrive anytime during that period.”

Another teacher in Harare said: “As far as I know, here in Highfield, they have only done the head count at Mutasa Primary School and Highfield High 1. So all teachers at other schools are just reporting for work, even if one is supposed to be off-duty.”

The government has been conducting a headcount of teachers as a way of flushing out ghost workers blamed for the bloated civil service wage bill.

The exercise has now been extended to other government ministries and departments, resulting in pensioners being required to update their status.

The audit has uncovered many cases where long dead people still had their pensions drawn by relatives who remained with their identity particulars and bank cards, allowing them to continue benefitting from the deceased’s government pay.

The headcount in schools is also expected to expose thousands of political activists who had been fraudulently registered as teachers or government workers at schools by unscrupulous political parties seeking support.

Government says it intends to reduce its wage bill which currently gobbles over 80% of the national budget by at least 40%.