Hello, my lovely blog readers!
I strive to keep you updated on my life here in Namibia and thought that you may want to be updated on the situation here as well. At present, we are on the verge of what appears to be an impending teachers' strike in Namibia. This could have enormous implications on the country of Namibia and a small impact on my service as well.
Here's the story. So, the Namibian National Teachers' Union (NANTU) is requesting an 8% raise for all teachers in Namibia, mainly because of the rising cost of living. The Government of Namibia has said that they cannot afford this raise this school year and will offer a 5% raise this year and a 7% raise next year. NANTU then pointed out that the senior officials in the Ministry of Education received a ~26% raise this year, so the point about not having enough funds seemed a bit off. Due to dissatisfaction to the government's reasoning, NANTU decided to have all members vote either for or against striking until the 8% is received. Well, the results of the vote were officially announced on Monday (19 September), and NANTU voted 95.1% in favor of the strike--an overwhelming majority. The government has stated that teachers will not receive pay or healthcare benefits while on strike. The government has also said that the strike would be illegal. It's currently a heated debate between both sides and is in the news daily, as well as being a common topic of conversation.
I've heard different things about when the strike could start-- as soon as this week to 12 days from now-- but regardless, a strike could seriously affect the grades 10 and 12 national examinations that are slated to start in just over two weeks. It could cost the government a lot of money to reschedule these examinations and could also cause a great deal of stress for the learners who don't know when they're writing their exams.
Peace Corps has already sent letters to our supervisors stating that in event of a strike, volunteers are required to stay home, as Peace Corps in not a political organization and as such, we cannot either support or oppose the strike. PC doesn't want us breaking the metaphorical picket lines. They also don't want us to support the teachers' side. They want us to keep our pie holes shut on the topic (which is why you'll notice that my post is [hopefully] devoid of my opinion). It's easy to see both sides of the issue... inflation is real and housing & food prices have increased significantly. On the other side, an 8% raise for all current teachers, and committing to that for future years as well, is a significant financial burden for the government.
I'll leave it at that... just a brief overview of what's going on in my host country! Check out these articles in the Namibian if you want to read more on the issue:
http://www.namibian.com.na/Teachers-dare-Govt-vote-for-strike/45670/read
http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?id=101729&page=archive-read
I strive to keep you updated on my life here in Namibia and thought that you may want to be updated on the situation here as well. At present, we are on the verge of what appears to be an impending teachers' strike in Namibia. This could have enormous implications on the country of Namibia and a small impact on my service as well.
Here's the story. So, the Namibian National Teachers' Union (NANTU) is requesting an 8% raise for all teachers in Namibia, mainly because of the rising cost of living. The Government of Namibia has said that they cannot afford this raise this school year and will offer a 5% raise this year and a 7% raise next year. NANTU then pointed out that the senior officials in the Ministry of Education received a ~26% raise this year, so the point about not having enough funds seemed a bit off. Due to dissatisfaction to the government's reasoning, NANTU decided to have all members vote either for or against striking until the 8% is received. Well, the results of the vote were officially announced on Monday (19 September), and NANTU voted 95.1% in favor of the strike--an overwhelming majority. The government has stated that teachers will not receive pay or healthcare benefits while on strike. The government has also said that the strike would be illegal. It's currently a heated debate between both sides and is in the news daily, as well as being a common topic of conversation.
I've heard different things about when the strike could start-- as soon as this week to 12 days from now-- but regardless, a strike could seriously affect the grades 10 and 12 national examinations that are slated to start in just over two weeks. It could cost the government a lot of money to reschedule these examinations and could also cause a great deal of stress for the learners who don't know when they're writing their exams.
Peace Corps has already sent letters to our supervisors stating that in event of a strike, volunteers are required to stay home, as Peace Corps in not a political organization and as such, we cannot either support or oppose the strike. PC doesn't want us breaking the metaphorical picket lines. They also don't want us to support the teachers' side. They want us to keep our pie holes shut on the topic (which is why you'll notice that my post is [hopefully] devoid of my opinion). It's easy to see both sides of the issue... inflation is real and housing & food prices have increased significantly. On the other side, an 8% raise for all current teachers, and committing to that for future years as well, is a significant financial burden for the government.
I'll leave it at that... just a brief overview of what's going on in my host country! Check out these articles in the Namibian if you want to read more on the issue:
http://www.namibian.com.na/Teachers-dare-Govt-vote-for-strike/45670/read
http://www.namibian.com.na/index.php?id=101729&page=archive-read
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