Zimbabwe’s striking teachers told to return to work or lose their jobs

Government sets deadline for 135,000 teachers to end pay strike, ignoring court order, after year of school closures due to Covid

The classrooms of Kambuzuma high school are deserted, with no staff to be seen and Tanaka Mupasiri*, 16, and his friends are milling around the school yard. It is 9am on a Thursday, normally a time when the school, in a high-density suburb or township on the outskirts of Harare, would be a hive of studious activity but Zimbabwe's national teachers' strike has thrown the education system into crisis.

Teachers in state schools have not been at work since 7 February and face a government deadline of Tuesday to return or lose their jobs.