Zimbabwe’s teachers strike amid pandemic and high inflation

By FARAI MUTSAKA
Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A teachers’ strike has paralyzed learning at many Zimbabwean schools, which opened this week after a prolonged closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Harare, some schools managed to open Thursday while at others a few teachers reported for work but did not teach, according to unions. The government denounced the strike as “unwarranted conduct” that is depriving children of their right to education. Many teachers decided to stay at home to protest salaries of about $100 a month. They are demanding that their pay be increased to about $500 per month. In 2018, teachers earned the equivalent of about $540 a month but that amount has been eroded by years of inflation and the devaluation of Zimbabwe’s currency.