ZNUT urges government to continue paying teachers Rural Hardship

The Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) in Mporokoso district Northern Province has appealed to government not scrap-off the payment of Rural Hardship Allowances to teachers in the area.

ZNUT district secretary, Chansa Mulenga, made the appeal in a statement released to
Zambia News and Information Services (ZANIS) in Kasama today.

Mr. Mulenga said it was unfortunate that the Ministry of Education has decided to
remove the Rural Hardship Allowance from teachers’ salaries on account that Mporokoso was a peri-urban area.

He noted that the government’s decision was contrary to the existing collective agreement, which stipulates that all workers in the district were entitled to Rural Hardship Allowance at the rate of 20 percent of their salaries.

Mr. Mulenga explained that once the move is effected it would demotivated teachers,
thereby affecting the quality of education in the district.

The union official has since called on the government to rescind its decision on the matter and maintain the status quo.

Recently, the Provincial Education Office directed all District Education Board Secretaries in Northern Province, except for Chilubi and Kaputa, to immediately stop paying Rural Hardship Allowance to teachers.

Meanwhile, ZNUT in Kasama has urged landlords to refrain from hiking house rentals
in new of the 16 percent salary increment awarded to public service workers by government recently.

Union District Chairperson, Brighton Muyabala, said it was unfortunate that some landlords have started adjusting their rentals and were now threatening teachers with eviction if they failed to honour the payments.

He advised the landlords to be patient with the teachers as government has already
indicated that April salaries would be delayed.

Mr. Muyabala also urged teachers to remain calm as their union national leadership was still negotiating with government on the new housing allowance payments effective this year.