It was May Day and the schools were out for the holiday but Tatenda Makura had come to St Peter’s Secondary School anyway, looking for the headmaster. He joined the queue of other boys in the corridor, hoping to win a place at the sought-after church school. “This is the only one that has enough teachers,” Tatenda explained.

When the new term began this week at his own school, Harare High, only two out of eight of his teachers turned up. “Maths, science, geography, accounts, history,” the earnest 17-year-old reeled off — “we are not getting any of these. I need to learn these but the teachers are not there.”

As Zimbabwe’s new school term began after a six-week election break, thousands of teachers failed to turn up, kept away by violence, intimidation or simply poverty caused by the hyperinflation that has soared even higher since March’s disputed elections.

Teachers’ unions declared that 9,000 teachers failed to report for work on Tuesday, exacerbating the woes of an education system already crippled by a national brain drain and chronic underfunding,

Hundreds of rural schools are struggling to reopen at all after teachers fled a campaign of violence against local activists for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and officers for the Zimbabwe election commission. Thousands of teachers took employment as election officers during the school break to supplement their shrinking incomes. In the past week at least 100 teachers, including several school principals, have been arrested on suspicion of electoral fraud.

The main trade union federation announced yesterday that two teachers had been beaten to death at their school in the northwestern Guruve region, apparently by ruling party militia. “These are being accused of rigging the elections in favour

of MDC,” Raymond Majongwe, secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe, said.

Others who worked as presiding officers have been the subject of violence from militias terrorising the Opposition in rural strongholds, such as Mudzi and Mutoko, where schools have been hit hardest.

Arthur, a secondary school English teacher, was asleep at home in Kumburai village, Mudzi, two weeks ago when 40 Zanu (PF) militiamen smashed into his home. “They asked me: ‘Where are your colleagues?’ I said I didn’t know and they began to beat me. They said: ‘If you don’t tell us, we will kill you.’ ” He fled to Harare with two other teachers for medical treatment. One of them, Harold, was tortured for seven hours before he escaped. All are in hiding.

“Hate speeches are being uttered against teachers. Some are being systematically assaulted,” Mr Majongwe said. “There is no way that they can go back to such dangerous areas.”

Tatenda has little idea why his teachers did not turn up at the start of term. He has seen dozens leave for other countries and two die “from tuberculosis” — most likely Aids-

related — over the past five years. St Peter’s has been less affected than some other schools: teachers say the faith-based ethos has kept them loyal to the profession despite their own crushing economic needs.

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