Coltart on teachers’ incentives

Sunday News

By Lulu Brenda Harris

25 April 2010

PARENTS are likely to be saddled with the burden of paying teacher incentives for some time now, as the Government has resolved to freeze civil servants’ salaries for an undisclosed period.

Speaking at a residents’ consultative meeting between various stakeholders organised by the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BUPRA) at Bulawayo’s Large City Hall, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, told residents that the incentives, paid by parents, were the breath providing the education sector with life.

He said the country’s education was fragile and expressed his fear that removing incentives would kill the sector.

“If I leave the problem I will be driving the issue underground. I fear what would happen to the country’s education if teachers leave. If they leave who will educate our children?

“If I ban incentives today I don’t have any guarantee that teachers will not go underground  and demand them in any event. In that way they (teachers) will become criminals. I am trying to avoid that,” he said.

The minister said he could only make sure that incentives were uniform across the country so that teachers are treated equally and fairly.
He said incentives could operate smoothly if they were raised correctly accordingly to the laws already laid down regarding the charging of levies.

“There are lawful procedures that have to be followed when preparing the budget for levies and the same manner is the way incentives should be charged.

“For any budget to pass, 50 percent of the parents attending a meeting called for this purpose must vote in favour of the proposed amount. After that the amount has to be approved by the Permanent Secretary,” said Minister Coltart.

On Friday, last week the Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, said the Government had resolved to freeze civil servants’ salaries for an undisclosed period because adjusting the salaries could compromise economic recovery and growth prospects of the country.

The Finance Minister said the current US$913 million salary bill for 2010 was “far above” international thresholds and needed to be corrected.

The highest paid civil servant earns about US$250 while the lowest employee takes home US$165.

Minister Coltart spoke about the challenges the Government was facing in paying its employees.
“The country is spending 70 percent of its income on civil servants. It should not be spending that much money on workers. Economists can tell you that.

“Money is needed so that other problems can be attended to, problems like maintaining roads and ensuring that there is clean water supply,” he said.

The minister of education said the Government has little room to move as it had little financial resources. “Education must be made a priority,” he said. Senator Coltart said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recommends that 22 percent of the Government’s budget should be spent on education, but the country only spent 14 percent.
“That is unacceptable,” he said.

Senator Coltart said as the sector tries to recover school results for lower levels were not impressive.

He, however, said at ordinary and advanced levels the results were better.

“It is not true that the pass rate this year was low. What is correct is that the pass rate (for O and A levels) this year was higher than last year. It actually increased, not by much, but it has increased. This is an indication that things are improving.

“What has actually decreased is the Grade Seven pass rate. The pass rate has plummeted. The drop is one of the worst alarming things the country is dealing with,” said Sen Coltart.

The minister attributed the drop in Grade Seven results to the fact that in the last decade primary school children were the ones who have suffered the most calamities.

“The fundamentals are not being taught correctly. The education sector is in a crisis.”