Teachers vote on possible strike Northern teachers yesterday took on Oshana Governor Clemens Kashuupulwa, asking him where he got the mandate to address them, as the government made a last-ditch effort to avert a looming teachers’ strike over a pay dispute. Government has pleaded with teachers not to vote in favour of a strike because it will negatively affect schoolchildren.
Teachers will vote today whether to strike following the government’s decision to offer them a 5% salary hike, while they demanded 8%.
Kashuupulwa yesterday addressed about 200 teachers at the Oshakati Independence Stadium and read a prepared speech by education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa.
After attentively listening to the speech the teachers were allowed to ask questions and expressed their views on the proposed 5% increase.
The teachers took issue with the governor, questioning whether he was mandated to address them, specifically on their pay dispute with government.
“We are not politicians, we are civil servants. Even in your job description is it indicated that governors should discuss remuneration of workers?” a teacher asked Kashuupulwa.
The governor calmly responded by saying that the constitution permits him to address members of the public, whether civil servants or not.
The teachers were also irked with the fact that the education minister compared their salary scales to those of educators in South Africa and Botswana.
One of the teachers, Katombera Nikolaus, said it was an unfair comparison. “It was a very clear comparison made about Namibia to South Africa and Botswana specifically on teachers and principals only, but logically it could have been fair if the comparison could have been made coming from the top government officials down to teachers in this country,” Nikolaus said.
Nikolaus also said the manner in which the government is communicating with them feels like a threat.
Oshana’s education deputy director for human resource administration, Aune Mundjanima, called on the teachers to be aware of the consequences of their actions.
“A strike will result in serious disruption of teaching and learning; it is exam period now and as such the examination session will be disrupted and our learners will be traumatised psychologically, and further endure irreversible disadvantages,” the education ministry statement read.
Meanwhile, the acting secretary general of the Teachers Union of Namibia (TUN), Matthew Haakuria, said teachers are ready to cast their vote and should it be in favour of a strike, the government will be informed accordingly.
“There is nothing more that we need to discuss. The issue on the salary has already been determined. We have not been able to reach consensus: the government is sticking to its offer of 5% while the teachers want an 8% increase,” he said.
KENYA KAMBOWE & JEMIMA BEUKES