The Sunday News
Faith Phiri Sunday News Reporter
ONE of Bulawayo’s private schools, Masiyephambili Junior, has been struggling to pay its teachers and staff on time as coffers have been dwindling allegedly after a number of parents withdrew their children due to continued economic challenges. The school which has its fees pegged at $1 000 per term, has also seen some of the teachers leaving due to the salary issues.
Masiyephambili Junior headmaster Mr Robert Sibanda confirmed that the school has not been paying salaries on time, saying they have however, found a solution to their problems.
“Yes, we had problems paying staff but that has been rectified,” he said.
However, sources at the private school said the institution has been failing to pay its staff on time and has a two months backlog in salaries after more than 50 pupils left last year. They said staff got their March salaries in late April and April salaries were paid in May.
“We haven’t received our bonuses for the past two years and we were not given the floor to negotiate. There is no workers’ committee at the school so the communication is one way”, said a worker who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The worker said although the school was to blame for not paying on time, it was also partly because most parents were not paying fees on time. Most parents are staggering the payment of the fees.
“Our salaries have been cut by 10 percent due to the crisis the school has been going through,” said another worker.
The Masiyephambili School Trust was set up in September 1989 with the principal objective to provide quality education at primary, secondary and tertiary level, with the initial establishment of the junior school before coming up with Masiyephambili College to offer secondary education.
