Newsday
By Tatenda Chitagu
28 March 2011
Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Takavafira Zhou has labelled Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart “a toothless bulldog†after his failure to stop Zanu PF from using schools as centres for its political activities.
This follows countrywide reports that Zanu PF had invaded schools and turned them into signing centres for its anti-sanctions petition while school heads were brought in as “polling officersâ€.
Coltart is on record denouncing use of schools for political activities.
Zhou on Sunday urged Coltart to stop making empty threats but to “walk the talkâ€.
“Coltart must show that he has teeth and enforce what he says, otherwise he has to shut up. He must protect the teachers from abuse and political interference by Zanu PF.
“We wonder if Coltart is the minister. Officials under him are going against what he says, and this serves to show that he cannot even stop the war veterans who are going around the schools. Schools should be for learning purposes, and not used as political grounds,†said Zhou.
In Masvingo, Zhou said some schools have been forcing teachers to sign the petition while at others, schoolchildren were being sent back home to collect their parents to sign the document.
He said other affected schools included Victoria, Dewure and Maungwa secondary schools.
Zhou other schools affected by the campaign were in Mberengwa, Bikita, Zaka, Gutu, Mwenezi and Chiredzi districts.
“At Gaururu Primary School in Mberengwa, pupils were turned away on Friday to collect their parents to sign. The head, Kudakwashe Hove, is in the Zanu PF structures. He disrupted learning during working hours for partisan reasons,†Zhou said.
“We have several times engaged Coltart, and he said he was going to look into the matter. But denouncing something is different from enforcing it. It is useless to say something without enforcing it,†Zhou said.
Repeated efforts to contact Coltart on Sunday were fruitless.