Zimbabwean
By Fungi Kwaramba
Friday, 18 February 2011
HARARE – From the outside all looks well at Dombodzvuku Primary school. The classrooms have a new coat of paint thanks to the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM). But for Dombodzvuku, and most other schools in the country, the money could only make do some cosmetic changes. Inside the classrooms there is no furniture and the floors are potholed.
Minister of Education Sports and Culture, David Coltart, who has been desperately trying to improve the sector almost destroyed by Zanu (PF)’s economic mismanagement, is afraid that eventually schools will collapse completely if steps are not taken to improve the infrastructure.
“For the past decade education has been terribly underfunded and we have seen infrastructure collapse. There are no exceptions. If you go to any government school you will see the same situation,†said Coltart.
While the government of Zimbabwe is doing its best to improve the education sector, the money is still not enough. For example, students at schools such as Zhakata primary school in Murehwa do not even have basic toilets.
No toilets
“We are appealing to well wishers to assist us in building ablution blocks, as our students are resorting to the bush toilet. They are young and susceptible to diseases,†said Zhakata Primary school head.
For Coltart, time is short and there is urgent need for the government to move with speed in maintaining the existing infrastructure, otherwise all will be lost to the vagaries of the weather.
“If we don’t make education a priority quickly and allocate resources to do the maintenance we are going to see a progressive deterioration in the schools,†said Coltart.
Potholed classes with no furniture at Dombodzuku Secondary School and no toilets at Zhakata Primary school are only a microcosm of the larger picture.
“Most classes still have roofs and windows, but if we don’t maintain them we will see an increasing number of classrooms open to the elements, where students can’t learn,†said Coltart.
Drop in ocean
All schools in the country need rehabilitation and, while the government has taken a few steps towards improving the sector, much more needs to be done in order to turn back the hands of time and once again put the country’s education at the apex it once occupied.
In the 2011 budget, Finance Minister Tendai Biti allocated the highest amount to the education sector, but still the money, according to Coltart, is just a drop in the ocean.
Biti allocated $23million towards rehabilitation of 6,556 schools, the majority of them under local authorities. Pupil grants were raised from $13.8 million to $15,5 million to lessen the burden on School Development Associations
The effects of Biti’s allocation are there to see – but more time and money is needed to restore the country education sector to the glory days when it used to get 15 percent of the country’s budget between 1980 and 1990.
That was reversed by the Zanu (PF) regime and from being the country with the highest literacy rate in Africa, the sector has plummeted into the doldrums.
De-motivated
Coltart and many school teachers fear that the current generation of youngsters could be lost to education completely, as there are too few teachers and books at secondary schools. In addition, teachers are de-motivated by the unending salary talks with the government.
School teachers in rural areas want the government to provide incentives, but at the moment the government does not have money. The decline in the infrastructure has also affected teachers.
With enrolments increasing yearly due to population growth, more teachers are required. However they do not have houses to live in while at work and many are forced to share.
“We share the same room the three of us – we do not have privacy. We are living like children at a boarding school,†said a teacher at Mhembere Primary school in Murehwa.
Rural teachers say that the situation is even worse for them as their schools have not been electrified and in some cases there is no clean water. Teachers are forced to drink water from wells.
“I am looking for another school in an urban setting where I can have electricity and incentives from parents. Here, parents are too poor to pay us money and there are no colleges where we can do part-time tutorials,†said a teacher.
In some areas, such as Chemhondoro, there is both a shortage of toilets and classrooms, forcing lessons to be conducted under trees.
“I have received an appeal from Chemhondoro Primary school for another classroom block. I will make sure that some of the money from the Constitutional Development levy goes towards the building of classrooms. However, the money is not enough as all schools in my constituency are in need of classrooms,†said MP for the area, Ward Nezi.
“Schools are in a sorry state and there is need for repair but unfortunately there is no money to reach out to every school in the constituency. The government should channel more money towards the education sector,†said Nezi.