By Staff Reporter
HARARE — The 2027 National Budget must commit at least 20% of public expenditure to education and guarantee teachers a minimum monthly remuneration package of US$1,260, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) has demanded.
ARTUZ has warned that public education is facing a funding emergency, accusing the government of failing to release and utilise allocated funds while schools struggle with inadequate resources, overcrowded classrooms and deteriorating learning conditions.
“Government must treat education as a sector in a state of emergency, with a funded recovery programme and binding delivery targets,” ARTUZ said in a press statement issued on Monday.
ARTUZ also wants education spending raised to 6% of gross domestic product (GDP), with protected allocations for early childhood development, primary and secondary education.
The union’s demands follow concerns over the execution of allocated education funds, with UNICEF’s 2026 Education Budget Brief recording overall education budget execution of 56% by September 2025.
Learner Support Services recorded execution of 23%, while current grants stood at 17% and social benefits at just 1%.
The figures cover January to September 2025, rather than the full financial year.
ARTUZ said the shortfalls exposed a failure to translate budget allocations into services, calling on the government to account separately for funds not released, funds released late and money disbursed but left unspent.
“Announcing an allocation does not feed a learner, repair a classroom or pay a teacher. Money that exists only in budget speeches cannot deliver constitutional rights,” the union said.
Delayed school grants, ARTUZ warned, leave parents facing demands for more money, while inadequate learner support threatens to exclude vulnerable children.
With infrastructure funding withheld or unused, unsafe and overcrowded classrooms also remain a challenge.
The union wants a protected, needs-based allocation for early childhood development, primary and secondary education, alongside predictable capitation grants, clearance of verified Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) arrears and a transition towards genuinely state-funded basic education.
“No learner should lose lessons, examination access or results because their family cannot pay,” ARTUZ said.
Under its proposed recovery package, the union is demanding a minimum monthly remuneration package of US$1,260 for teachers, excluding special responsibility, qualifications, hardship and experience allowances, which it wants paid separately.
It is also seeking teacher regrading, professional progression and enforceable collective bargaining arrangements.
Beyond pay, ARTUZ wants the government to recruit additional teachers to address staffing shortages and overcrowded classes, improve rural teacher accommodation and finance professional development, including practical training in artificial intelligence and robotics.
The union has also called for publicly funded childcare services at schools, prioritising female teachers and rural communities, with trained carers, decent wages, safe facilities and breastfeeding support.
“Female teachers must not be forced to choose between their children’s care and their professional duties,” ARTUZ said.
Learner welfare features prominently in the demands, with the union calling for one nutritious meal per school day for every learner from early childhood development to Form Four, free menstrual products, disability support and appropriate assistance for pregnant learners and young mothers.
Examination work must also be properly funded, ARTUZ said, demanding the recruitment, training and remuneration of community invigilators to allow teachers to complete the syllabus.
It wants funds ring-fenced for invigilation, project assessment, marking and moderation, backed by agreed rates and binding payment deadlines.
To finance the proposed recovery programme, ARTUZ has proposed an additional Public Education Emergency Recovery Fund supported by large mineral producers, exceptional mining profits, large profitable companies, high-net-worth individuals and people earning exceptional personal incomes.
The proposed fund, however, must supplement the ordinary education allocation rather than replace it.
“No new education levy should target the poor,” the union said, rejecting higher school charges and additional taxes on basic necessities, ordinary transactions and remittances as ways of financing the recovery.
ARTUZ has further demanded that Treasury publish and honour quarterly disbursement schedules, with school operating grants arriving before each term and examination funds released before assessment work begins.
Annual district reports should disclose allocations, releases, actual expenditure and the number of new schools completed and operational, while every missed disbursement should trigger an explanation and a corrective deadline.
“Our demand is delivery: fund public education, release the money on time and account for every dollar.
“Teachers’ working conditions are learners’ learning conditions,” ARTUZ said.
