THE government scrapped teachers’ incentives because a majority of them had shifted from their core business of teaching and keeping professional records to concentrate on updates of pupils payments, the Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazaras Dokora has said.
NQOBILE BHEBHE Chief Reporter
The incentives were introduced in 2009 to motivate teachers to continue with the teaching profession as they were getting meagre salaries.
They, however, became a highly divisive issue as they only applied to a small proportion of schools, mainly those in urban areas.
Some teachers in rural areas never received incentives since 2009 while a number of headmasters clashed with teachers over non-payment and abuse of the inducements.
Senator Lillian Timveous asked Doroka last week during the Senate’s question-and-answer session whether the scrapping of incentives would not negatively affect the performance of the education sector in view of the poor remuneration of teachers.
Dokora said his ministry noted that 62% of the teachers were not getting any form of incentives, while 38% were getting them.
“Urban teachers faced great challenges in terms of their personal upkeep and transport to get to school,” he said.
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“While parents accepted this responsibility of paying this form of incentive, they themselves were facing similar economic challenges,” he said.
“As a matter of fact, the majority of teachers in the rural areas received meagre support or nothing.
“Some communities could not afford anything for the teachers in the form of incentives.
“The incentives caused divisions among teachers from different environments and also brought about tensions between some teachers and their heads as well as between teachers and parents,” the minister said.
“Instead of keeping professional records in classroom, teachers were keeping records of fees and levies paid and some would not allow children into their classrooms if the fees have not been paid.”
Dokora said the incentives served their purpose and were no longer necessary as they had stifled schools development.
