Teachers union says too many centres of power in education ministry

SW Radio Africa
By Violet Gonda
12 August 2009

The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has said too many centres of power in the education ministry are behind the problems bedevilling the sector at present. The PTUZ says it is very bitter because the government has still not addressed the challenges facing teachers, despite their many productive meetings with Minister David Coltart.

The PTUZ President Takavafira Zhou told SW Radio Africa that the Permanent Secretary, Dr Steven Mahere who is a former trade unionist, has been reversing decisions made by his Minister.

PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe alleged that the major problem is that while agreements are made with Coltart, Dr Mahere and others in the Public Service Commission refuse to follow instructions.

The group said when schools opened in March, Minister Coltart agreed with the unions to give amnesty to teachers who had failed to return to work during last year’s crippling strikes. But according to Zhou and Majongwe this has now been reversed by the Permanent Secretary, who is calling for a security vetting system. It is feared this will group the teachers who failed to return to work, along partisan lines, resulting in some of them losing their jobs forever.

The PTUZ also claims that the notorious youth militia are still being allowed to terrorise teachers, in spite of a letter written by Coltart calling for the removal of the youths from schools. Majongwe says there is still no movement on this and violence is continuing and the Border Gezi trained youths are still being allowed to teach ‘distorted history’ in many of the rural schools.

Last Friday the MDC sent out a statement saying soldiers and the youth militia living at Vhumbunu Primary School in Mutasa Central, were ‘harassing and torturing innocent villagers.’ Teachers at the school were allegedly being forced to share accommodation with the rowdy youths.

Majongwe asked: “Zimbabwe needs qualified teachers, why would we be stuffing our schools with unqualified and unemployable goons and youths who are bussed into our schools from training camps and torture camps as if we want to perpetuate the hegemony of violence on to our children, and yet we have qualified personnel?”

The outspoken Secretary General said this is a continuation of the disastrous political process that destroyed the education sector, but is still being repeated in spite of the formation of the inclusive government. He said the worst thing is that the Minister is not receiving support from his administrator, who has become the politician.

Majongwe said: “The sticking point is the Permanent Secretary Dr Steven Mahere, who treats himself as a larger than life character. He is obviously doing things his way. He is supposed to complement Minister Coltart but he is undoing everything else that the unions and the Minister have agreed upon.”
“And I think if there is any other reason that teachers are going to go on strike it is because of the conduct of Dr Steven Mahere and many other little Maheres who are found in district and provincial education offices – who think that it is only Mahere who can determine the pace and progress in the Ministry.”

We were not able to get a comment from Dr Mahere.