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Every School Has a Story to Tell: a Study Into Teacher's Experiences with Elections in Zimbabwe

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Every School Has a Story to Tell: a Study Into Teacher's Experiences with Elections in Zimbabwe Every School has a Story to Tell: A Study into Teacher’s Experiences with Elections in Zimbabwe Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe September 2011 1 Executive Summary You are going to lose your jobs if you support opposition political parties in the presidential election. As civil servants, you have to be loyal to the government of the day. You can even be killed for supporting the opposition and no one would guarantee your safety. (Source: Daily News, 18 July 2001)1 This summary is based on findings drawn from a national survey on teachers, covering all 10 Provinces of Zimbabwe carried out between April and June 2011, with 1,086 teachers participating. The key findings are highlighted below. An interesting finding from the study is that teachers, whether differing by political or Union affiliation, are all regarded with suspicion in society. Some teachers were attacked because of roles they played in such activities as office bearers in trade unions that are deemed to be anti-ZANU PFF or because they were perceived to be politically active in opposition political parties, but the majority were attacked simply because they are teachers. 73% of teachers, unsurprisingly, were unwilling to disclose their political party preference. 56% stated that the attacks they witnessed were because teachers were suspected to be members or sympathised with the opposition parties; . 14% stated that the attacks they witnessed were because teachers are deemed influential in society and accused of influencing people to vote for the opposition political parties, especially during the March 2008 Elections; . The remainder stated that the attacks they witnessed were because teachers were not actively supporting ZANU PF [8%], or because the teacher was a member of PTUZ [4%]. 51% teachers reported that they have directly experienced political violence of one form or another, and 55% stated that they had been forced to vote for a particular political party because of violence or threats of violence, with the worst election for such intimidation being June 2008. 68% stated that they had experienced violence in the June 2008 election, but high percentages also reported direct experience of violence in 2000 and also the March 2008 election. The most frequent violations directly experienced were as follows: 79% reported having been forced to attend political meetings; 77% reported threats; 41% reported some form of extortion; 33% reported being assaulted; 31% reported being tortured; 30% reported having been disqualified from voting; 24% reported having been forcibly displaced from their work station and community. The perpetrators for those directly experiencing violence were largely similar to those identified in other human rights reports, but the frequencies with which these perpetrators were identified were slightly different: Comment: Were the frequencies below deduced from those directly experiencing violence or witnessing violence? This has to come out. 1 Speech by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Stan Mudenge addressing students and staff at a teachers’ college in Masvingo. 2 “War veterans” [27%], ZANU PF supporters [24%], and the Youth militia [20%] were the most frequently identified perpetrators; The next most frequent perpetrator was the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) [10%], which was a much higher frequency than in most human rights reports over the past decade; Even fellow teachers [4%] were identified as being involved in violence. 56% of teachers reported witnessing political violence. However, whilst there was a strong positive relationship between teachers experiencing violence and being a victim during an election, there was no relationship between teachers being direct victims and witnessing violence. Hence direct victims and those witnessing are two different groups in the sample. The violations witnessed were similar in most respects to the violations experienced, but reported at much higher frequencies: 84% reported threats, the most frequent violation witnessed; In rank order, assault [53%], indecent assault [49%], torture [47%], and extortion [43%] were the next most common violations witnessed by teachers; However, forced displacement [33%], property destruction [20%], and abduction [18%] were also reported with high frequencies. As was the case with those reporting direct experience of violence, ZANU PF supporters [23%] and “War veterans” [27%] were the most frequently identified perpetrators, but, unlike those with direct experience, the CIO [6%] were not as frequently reported and the Youth militia [28%] turned out to be the most frequently mentioned group of perpetrators for those witnessing violations. In identifying the perpetrators, it is evident that separating ZANU (PF) supporters from war veterans and youth militias is a matter of convenience, otherwise it is almost impossible to separate them. This bolsters the argument that political violence against teachers, like any other organised violence during the electoral cycle is largely state-sponsored. Although the CIO were not so frequently mentioned by those witnessing, this organisation was found, when rank order correlations of perpetrators and violations were carried out, to be significantly associated with every other one of the perpetrator groups. Furthermore, the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) was mentioned more frequently by this group than by those with direct experience of violence. 47% of those witnessing violence reported that the violation took place at school and during working hours, and a further 15% reported that the violation took place at home, which means that over 60% of the violations could easily have been witnessed by children. This is an exceedingly disturbing possibility, and points strongly to the need for research into the effects of the violence of the past decade on children. It also points even more strongly for the need for schools to be made politically neutral zones, and both teachers and pupils protected from political violence. 3 Background Teachers are an endangered species, and probably always have been. The task of preparing the young for their future role in society makes teachers the most important socialising influence in the life of a citizen, apart from the influence of the family and the home. The education system (and by implication, teachers who drive this system) has a profound influence upon the wider society and the nation. It is for this reason that education is a political battleground, and, in Zimbabwe, has always been so. In Zimbabwe (Rhodesia before), the education system and teachers, who are the visible face of education, has been the focus for the political struggles of the country. It is remarkable that, with all the violations that took place in Zimbabwe, and the violations that have taken place against teachers (and the education sector as a whole) during the last decade, only one major report specifically focusing on violations against teachers has been published2. As regards teachers (and by implication the education and children within the education system), this is a serious gap in our understanding. Like other forms of violence against other citizens, the increase in violence against teachers is directly linked to the electoral cycle and points to the fact that it is state-sponsored, but certainly has not been objected to by the state. Rather, the previous ZANU PF government has fostered an approach that is explicitly ideologically-oriented, even to the extent of ensuring that this ideology is fostered in the youth beyond the school3. In 2001 the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stan Mudenge made the statement quoted earlier. Equally supporting the same view, the then ZANU PF Political Commissar, Border Gezi had this to say; “If you want to work for the government, you should be prepared to support ZANU (PF).” (Source: The Herald, 12 April 2001) This study to document the scope, the nature, the pattern and impact of elections in Zimbabwe on service delivery in schools and in particular the suffering of teachers at the hands of politicians had its origin in the political violence which has now become a part and parcel of Zimbabwean elections since the 2000 elections This report attempts to depart from the general approach by focusing specifically on disturbances affecting teachers, schools, and the education system. Whilst the signing of the Global Political Agreement [GPA] and the establishment of the Inclusive Government [IG] has brought some economic stability to the economy, the security of teachers has not been addressed, and this was evident in a preliminary desk top study of reports in the public domain, as well as reports to teachers’ trade union. The present report is based on findings of a field survey involving 1,200 teachers nationwide conducted between April and June 2011 and reflect the responses thereof. The objective of the study was to expose the violent nature of the political system in the country against teachers with the hope that positive reforms will be instituted to benefit the sector and the country. The study findings seek to inform the trade union movement, electoral authorities, civic organisations, the Government of National Unity (GNU) and regional groupings such as SADC and the AU of the magnitude and 2See Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (2002), Teaching them a lesson. A report on the attack on Zimbabwean teachers, HARARE: ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS NGO FORUM. 3See Solidarity Peace Trust (2003), National youth service training – “ shaping youths in a truly Zimbabwean manner”. An overview of youth militia training and activities in Zimbabwe, October 2000 – August 2003. 5 September, 2003. ZIMBABWE & SOUTH AFRICA: SOLIDARITY PEACE TRUST. 4 impact of violence on teachers and more importantly, the role of institutions to which teachers and students trust for their security and protection from human rights violations. This is the first of a series of reports released in view of the current speculation about early elections in order to sensitise all to the need for serious attention to be given to the plight of teachers and their schools (including their pupils) during election periods.
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