By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK The Teachers Union of Namibia (TUN) during a press briefing on Thursday expressed profound concern over the alleged exclusion of school managements from the new teaching salary structure,. “The workloads of school managements are increasing all the time by extra responsibilities especially with the implementation of new teaching standards and the issue of performance indicators in schools. So, apart from other administrative responsibilities school management members also have to teach and manage departments,” claimed the deputy president of TUN, Chanville Mackrill. According to him, some such management members are also class teachers and they also suffer from the high cost of living. “It has become unaffordable for such teachers to survive. No wonder loan sharks are preying on our poor teachers, who are forced to sell their souls just to survive. Maximum salaries of teachers do not keep track with the costs of living – price increases such as fuel hikes, electricity and daily commodities,” he said. “TUN is also shocked to learn that it has been agreed to have a 5% increase across the board in the 2008 and 2009 financial year, while we can already see the inflation rate is at 6 percent even before the announcement of the new petrol price. Furthermore, TUN is concerned that teachers have not as yet received official notification of the new salary scales they are supposed to be on, causing confusion,” he alleged. Some two hundred learners are presently attending a winter school organized by TUN at Cosmos Secondary School in Khomasdal. “Accounting, mathematics and physical science are the main subjects being taught during the winter school in efforts to uplift school learners,” Mackrill said at the press briefing.