TEACHERS ARE RIGHT TO BOYCOTT MARKING

Sir,

I know it makes no sense to everyone why teachers are not motivated to be involved in marking the Standard V and Form III external examinations, as previously reported. It is not personal and neither questionable patriotism; it’s all business.

To mark these scripts, teachers are hired and not obliged and bound prior to contract signing. So it’s a decision made and motivated by money not patriotism, and the choices teachers make are justified by money. There is no surprise in the dwindling numbers of teachers going to mark the external exams hosted by ECoS. There will still be few teachers marking these extra tasks unless more money is paid.
There is no motivation they receive in the activity; in fact there is more negativity around marking.

The small money paid to individual teachers is heavily taxed by SRA; about 33 per cent tax. They commute around Manzini to the marking centre using the 67 per cent remnant. The expenses they accumulate culminate to them returning home with merely nothing. It becomes a fun deriving exercise to go for marking; so it is not worth it. It is not worth the abandonment of one’s comfort of their blankets as well as children and families, to return with meagre amounts of money. Teachers might as well thrive on the little they receive from their professional attachments.

Everyone around the world, except in Germany, think that teachers must not be paid more money for their social, economic and cultural roles in communities, schools and countries holistically. Teachers are not gladiators; they are not marking for fun. They are not cheap labour but are professionals and no professional employee would appreciate to be taken cheap for the effort they put.

Look at it in this manner; if this exercise was allocated to other personnel in other departments, particularly HR or education officials, they would probably be housed in expensive hotels and lodges, be paid high labour allowances and the stipend automatically exempted from national taxation. They would enjoy their stay in Manzini.

The only problem would be efficiency. Since teachers are efficient markers, they must be paid for it and motivated to go for the exercise. Teachers are not in the business of recreation or deriving fun from marking but they are supplementing their small salaries. If this additional stipend is senseless, they might as well stay at home. This jeopardises the integrity, efficiency, credibility and status of ECoS as a national examination body.

Government must come in and think more about the integrity of the national examinations. If fewer human resources are hired to mark the external examinations than enough, then mistakes will be high and credibility compromised. The overall exercise will be rendered inefficient and unreliable. I foresee disaster ahead. The nation must act.

CM Dluli
Mdzimba

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