HARARE – Teachers across the country are set to open the third school term next Tuesday, September 9, without any salary adjustments, despite enduring months of financial hardship.
Civil servants, including teachers, continue to take home around US$270 plus a local currency component, an amount far below the cost of living.
Many have been left to survive hand-to-mouth, with no review of wages since the beginning of the year.
Glen View North legislator, Happymore Chidziva (CCC) this week pressed Labour and Public Service Minister Edgar Moyo to clarify what measures the government intends to take to align teachers’ salaries with the poverty datum line.
Chidziva also inquired about possible non-monetary benefits such as fuel and housing.
Moyo, sidestepped the questions, offering no commitment on salary reviews. His response suggested that teachers and the wider civil service may have to endure the current wage levels until the end of the year.
“Our response is that the Government, through the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC), is continuously reviewing salaries and conditions of service for teachers and the wider civil service.
“These reviews are guided by the need to improve the welfare of educators while maintaining fiscal sustainability.
“The ministry continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to explore more innovative ways of cushioning teachers from economic pressures including school-based incentives supported through local communities and responsible authorities”, said Moyo.
For years, teachers and other public service employees have been demanding the restoration of their pre-October 2014 salaries of at least US$540.
However, the government has continued to resist the call.
Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi recently dismissed renewed appeals for an urgent cost-of-living adjustment, insisting that current economic indicators do not warrant such a measure.
Addressing Parliament on 17 July 2025 in his capacity as Leader of Government Business, Ziyambi maintained that inflation levels were stable and the local currency had shown resilience, thereby ruling out any immediate salary review.
“There has not been a general increase in prices in this country.
Statistics that we have on inflation do not indicate that.
“Even our currency is very stable, and the prices have largely not risen to levels that we can say indicate that we need a cost-of-living adjustment”, he said.
