MASERU- Government has resolved to reimburse salaries of teachers who went on strike in September last year and fell victims to the “no work no pay” principle that was employed as a punitive action.
news
July 1, 2020
NEO SENOKO
3 min read
Held teachers’ salaries to be released
Prime Minister Dr Moeketsi Majoro
Last week, cabinet approved and ordered the Ministry of Education to facilitate payment of some of the teachers who were victimised. The approval means sooner than later; these teachers will be smiling all the way to the bank.
“The agreement has been reached that teachers be paid their September salaries and we highly appreciate the effort but will only be happy when we start receiving the money. These are teachers who suffered the “no work no pay” principle that was used against some of us by government,” said Lesotho Teachers Trade Union (LTTU) Secretary General ‘Mapitso Molai in an interview with Metro news on Tuesday.
She clarified however that not all teachers are going to receive salaries but only those who suffered the unfortunate incident.
“This issue has been on the table for some time now and there are some teachers who have already been paid under the previous government. So we remain hopeful that this government will continue and pay back the rest of the teachers,” she added.
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Since February last year, teachers across the country embarked on a series of protests demanding salary increase of eight percent as well as improved working conditions.
In September the same year, government threatened and finally implemented a “no work no pay” principle following fresh strike by teachers.
Government then embarked on random inspection visits to schools and all teachers who were not present during that period are the ones who fell victim to the unfortunate incident which government is now denouncing.
While teachers appreciate the efforts by the new government, their full happiness, they say will entirely be restored when the Dr Moeketsi Majoro government fully implements the new career and salary structure of 2019.
The revised teachers’ career structure has been developed to guide career growth of teachers in their employment of the teaching service as well as accommodate new trends in the teaching profession.
The new structure was supposed to be implemented in April this year but was delayed by a court case by some Primary School teachers who are not members of any of the teachers’ unions who argued that the new structure has not catered for them and therefore should not be implemented.
These individuals had as a result tugged the Government of Lesotho through the Ministry of Education and Training together with the three teachers’ unions of the Lesotho Teachers Trade Union (LTTU), Lesotho Association of Teachers (LAT) and the Lesotho Schools Principal Association (LESPA) to court in a move to block the implementation of the new structure.
However, teachers’ unions successfully won the case and are now just waiting for the implementation.
“We are waiting impatiently for the implementation of the new structure just as government has promised. The structure was supposed to be implemented in April this year but was disrupted by a court case which we have since won,” Molai told Metro news on Tuesday.
Some of the objectives of the new structure include the linking of teachers’ career progression to their performance, qualifications and experience and to enhance professionalism by recognizing the need for development of competences required for teaching and leadership positions.
It also allows for the provision of basic job description on the career ladder and to improve staff motivation and retention within the teaching service.
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