The National Organization of Teachers in Mozambique warned today about irregularities in the framework of graduate teachers in the new Single Wage Scale (TSU), a model that has been contested by several classes in the civil service.

"The N1 teachers [teachers with a degree] are the most injured with this new table," explained to Lusa, Teodoro Muidumbe, secretary general of the National Organization of Teachers (ONP), on the sidelines of a meeting in Maputo, which brought together teachers to discuss the problems of framing in TSU.

In addition to cuts in some allowances, a complaint of other classes in the civil service, the teachers warn that teachers with title N1 have dropped in category under the new criteria imposed by the TSU and, consequently, have seen their net salaries reduced, in some cases.

On the other hand, the salary disparity between the board members of the educational institutions and the teachers is considered a problem, with registered cases in which the salary difference between a director and a teacher amounts to 50 thousand meticais, regardless of their working time.

Although there is discontent, the secretary-general of the ONP defends a permanent dialogue with the Government, calling for teachers to put their complaints through the means defined by the authorities and avoid threats of paralysis, as did the doctors' class, who also complain about irregularities in the TSU framework.

"Our motto is always dialogue," stressed Teodoro Muidumbe.

The Ministry of Education and Human Development also reiterates the importance of dialogue to overcome the problems, stressing that the Government is looking for mechanisms to resolve the issues.

"We appeal for calm and we want to believe that teachers will not go on strike," stressed Lina Portugal, director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Education and Human Development, who attended the ONP meeting.

Even before the ONP's pronouncement, individual groups of teachers threatened to paralyze classes and boycott exams for the school year about to end, in protest against the TSU.

The protests by the ONP come on a day when the Mozambican executive was asked by Parliament to urgently debate the "risks of paralyzing the civil service," in a context of strong opposition to the new Single Wage Scale.

The Medical Association of Mozambique rescheduled for December 5th the national strike that was scheduled for Monday after negotiating advances, but still awaiting a response to various claims.

The Mozambican Judges Association (AMJ) also threatened on Monday to challenge the new remuneration matrix, considering that the instrument "calls into question the constitutional status of judges.