By CATHERINE NYIRENDA –
THE Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) has cautioned teachers to desist from over-borrowing against their salaries from financial institutions as it was affecting their performance in schools.
ZNUT director for workers education Samuel Nyirenda advised members to only borrow for investment such as construction of houses, or educational advancement rather than for consumption.
Mr Nyirenda said in an interview yesterday that there had been a growing trend among teachers to acquire loans from financial institution which resulted in heavy deductions.
This had resulted in some teachers failing to cope with a monthly basis when deductions were effected.
“When a teacher has huge deductions on their salaries, it affects their teaching performance, as a result, they lack concentration in their work,” Mr Nyirenda said.
Mr Nyirenda said there was nothing wrong with accessing loans from the financial institutions, but such facilities should be acquired for better usage in a long time investments.
“We are actually encouraging our members to invest in infrastructure, It is important for teachers to consider constructing houses so that they do not become destitute when they retire,” he said.
He advised supervisors in schools to encourage their staff to engage in other economic activities once they were done with their routine works unlike loitering around.
He said the union was concerned with many developing trends affecting their members such as financial burdens and other bad vices such as defilement of pupils by teachers.
It is against this background that the union has embarked on a sensitisation campaign in schools to help address these challenges by educating their members.