On Wednesday (03), the National Association of Teachers of Mozambique (ANAPRO) submitted a document to the Assembly of the Republic, asking for the intervention of the Complaints and Petitions Commission regarding delays in the payment of overtime in the education sector.

The request submitted to parliament, according to the group, comes after failed attempts by the Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINEDH) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to resolve the issue, which has been ongoing since 2022.

"In compliance with the separation of powers of the Mozambican state, ANAPRO is using this document to ask the Legislative Branch to immediately intervene in the Executive Branch, because on several occasions we have approached the Ministry of Education and Human Development (MINEDH) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) to have the teachers' situation regularized, there has been no satisfactory solution other than a tendency towards dissonance between the two ministries, apathy and insensitivity towards the class because the payments that are said to have been made were made strategically, that is, in just one school per district in the provinces of Gaza, Inhambane, Sofala, Manica, Zambézia and Nampula, except for the city and province of Maputo, which paid a larger number of schools", reads the document sent to Parliament and to which the MZNews had access to.

According to the document, signed by the president of the National Teachers' Association, Isac Marrengule, the associated wave of discontent is currently growing, generating a "series of moods that are taking on alarming contours in schools, due to sporadic and cyclical stoppages", because teachers feel that their rights are being violated.

"It's all just a strategy to distract attention, further conditioning the working environment and the quality of teaching," he adds.

In January, the Minister of Education admitted that there were delays in paying overtime to teachers, but called on them to continue doing their jobs.

"We are aware that we owe this debt to our fellow teachers, but we wanted to reassure them that these hours will be paid in due course," said Carmelita Namashulua.

However, yesterday, Thursday, a group of 40 teachers from the Daejo Cheile Community School in the Khongolote neighborhood in the city of Matola stopped classes, demanding payment of overtime owed by the state.

Images of the class boycott have been circulated on social media, and the teachers say that the decision, taken unanimously after a meeting, will prevail until the overtime money is reflected in their accounts.