Maputo, 15 Oct (AIM) – Mozambique’s National Association of Teachers (ANAPRO) has submitted a complaint to the Ombudsman’s Office against Education Minister Samaria Tovela, for her statement regarding the payment for overtime to teachers in the National Education System (SNE).
In her statement, made on the occasion of “Mozambican Teacher’s Day”, which was celebrated on 12 October, Tovela said that “health is a priority, education is also a priority, but it’s not possible to solve everything in 2025. Overtime will be paid when the government has resources. The basic wage is there, and so it makes no sense to stop teaching because of overtime payments.”
ANAPRO accuses the government of trying to intimidate the teachers for “exercising their right to protest and express themselves.”
“It is necessary to immediately suspend any punitive measures against teachers for exercising their fundamental freedoms. The Government has not deigned to fulfill the promises made, nor has it respected the legally protected rights and interests of teachers”, reads the ANAPRO document.
The organization calls on the Ombudsman to intervene to ensure effective payment of the overtime that the government owes to the teachers.
“The Education Ministry has violated the principles of justice and legality by failing to honour the promises made to the teaching profession. The Ministry of Education’s behavior compromises the right to education and development by devaluing teachers and their working conditions”, ANAPRO say.
“A change in attitude and the elimination of all barriers to access to quality education are urgently needed. The failure to pay overtime constitutes a violation of the constitutional right to education”, the note adds.
Over the past few years, teachers have also been demanding improvements in the education system, threatening not to work with classes of over 100 pupils, since overcrowding has been harming the quality of education. They have also threatened to boycott the second shift of lessons, if the government does not pay for the overtime which they claim is in arrears.
Last year, seven teachers affiliated to the former rebel movement Renamo were arbitrarily transferred from their workplaces in Vilankulo district, in the southern province of Inhambane, for having taken part in the campaign that led to that party’s victory in Vilankulo in the 2023 municipal elections.
In 2023, ANAPRO denounced the murder of teacher Telvino Manuel Benedito, in Mocuba district, central province of Zambezia, after he had denounced illegal deductions from teachers’ wages in favour of some individuals linked to political power.
(AIM)
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