The Mozambican Ministry of Economy and Finance recognises that it has yet to settle more than 87 million meticals (1.3 million euros) in overtime for 2022 in the education sector, but has detected situations of “overstretching”.
In a clarification sent to Lusa today, in the face of protests by teachers demanding these payments, the ministry states that in the education sector the amount of 236,244,405.95 meticals (3.4 million euros) was reported for overtime in the months of October and November 2022.
Of this total, payments totalling 158,190,652.16 meticals (2.3 million euros) were validated for 5,404 employees and 71,113,995.11 meticals (one million euros) have been paid “so far” to 2,474 employees from 137 schools.
“This makes up part of the universe of schools in the city and province of Maputo, the cities of Quelimane and Nampula, with 87,076,657.06 meticals still to be paid, corresponding to 2,930 employees,” reads the same report.
On Wednesday, dozens of Mozambican teachers took to the streets of Matola, on the outskirts of Maputo, in protest at the lack of overtime pay, threatening to boycott the start of the school year in the country.
“If the government doesn’t respond to our concerns, be sure that on the opening day [of the school year], instead of teachers going to the schools, they will go to the gardens, squares and streets to demand their stolen rights,” Isac Marrengula, president of the National Teachers’ Association (Anapro), told the media.
Various professional classes, including teachers, doctors and health professionals, have been complaining since 2023 about delays and cuts in the payment of salaries and overtime since the introduction of the Single Salary Table (TSU) in the civil service, which is being strongly contested and criticised by various segments of the Mozambican state apparatus.
Holding placards with critical messages, such as “They cheated us out of the TSU” or “Pay overtime”, the teachers, wearing their gowns, travelled through the streets of Matola, chanting protest songs and calling for overtime to be paid.
In the same information document, the Ministry of Economy and Finance points out that with the implementation of the TSU, in October and November 2022, overtime “was not processed, and the procedure of validation by the General Inspectorate of Finance was instituted”.
“The assessment of information on overtime work carried out by state employees and agents in the remaining schools resumes this month, which includes the debt for the 2023 financial year,” it adds, adding that so far “the amount of 337,421,590.71 meticais has been validated”, to be paid to 3,235 employees from 149 schools.
It also mentions that, “in coordination” with the Ministry of Education and Human Development, the Ministry of Economy and Finance “has been working on the process of improving and controlling overtime worked by teaching staff” and that the government “has prioritised the payment of salaries and other supplements, with overtime being conditional on the verification and validation process”.
It should also be noted that in the process of prior inspection of overtime expenses, irregularities were found such as the presentation of overtime “without evidence of its realisation”, the calculation of this compensation “without the realisation of the mandatory minimum working hours”, the scheduling of overtime “without having signed the time book” or applied on weekly rest days, and the “padding of hours”.
