Africa-Press – Mozambique. The first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Frelimo Party in Manica, Tomás Chithango, has urged teachers in Chimoio district to resume classes interrupted in protest over the lack of payment of overtime allowances for 2022, 2023, 2024 and part of 2025.
The decision to suspend classes was taken a week ago by teachers from different schools, with the strike expected to last 30 days.
The appeal from the Frelimo First Secretary was made during a meeting in the Chimoio Montalto Cultural Centre, attended by teachers from schools on strike as well as from polytechnic secondary institutes, secondary schools, and primary schools in the district.
Chithango spoke about the importance of continuous dialogue to resolve issues affecting the education sector, saying: “There must be permanent dialogue to resolve differences and move forward together.”
During the meeting, Chithango stated that he was aware of the existence of an accumulated debt of around 200 million meticais for the district of Chimoio alone, relating to overtime and shifts.
“We are at the doorstep of exams, so I would like to ask you to consider the children who are missing classes while we seek solutions,” he added.
Chithango said he would be meeting the president in Bilene on the 14th and 15th of November, and requested detailed information to report to him, in order to find short- and medium-term solutions.
“I would also like to know what is happening so that I can inform the Political Commission and the Central Committee before the meeting with the president,” he declared.
MEC negotiates teachers’ return to classes
Meanwhile, a team from the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) travelled to Manica province to negotiate the return of teachers.
On Wednesday, the ministerial team met with teachers from Eduardo Mondlane Secondary School, one of seven that closed its doors, but the meeting did not result in an agreement between the parties.
The teachers insist that they will only return to classrooms after the payment of the amounts owed, and the MEC representative refused to provide details about the discussions, directing questions to the ministry spokesperson.
Ivan Otávio, one of the representatives of the teachers at Eduardo Mondlane School, expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the meeting, stating that “negotiations will resume because today’s meeting had no positive result”.
Otávio added that there have been reports of threats to teachers at some secondary schools, which has reinforced the decision to suspend teaching activities.
“The ministry is asking us to cancel the strike, but we will only return to activities once we receive our payments,” he reiterated.
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