Sunday News

6 April 2013

The Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture has said it will allow schools to continue enrolling A- Level students with less than five O-Level passes on the premise that institutions ensure the students resit for O-level examinations and pass.

It was recently reported that a number of high schools and private colleges were accepting pupils for Lower Sixth classes without the minimum five Ordinary levels, a development which was viewed as compromising the quality of education in the country.

Despite the 2012 shocking poor pass rate which sparked debate among members of the public, many pupils secured places for A- Levels at different schools and colleges.

According to the education ministry’s regulations, for one to proceed to A-level, a pass in five O-level subjects is a must.

In an interview with Sunday News, Bulawayo Provincial Education Director, Mr Dan Moyo, said five O-levels were a basic minimum requirement with English a standing pre-requisite adding that Mathematics would be included to the list very soon.

Mr Moyo confirmed the education ministry had instruments which stated these requirements but failed to mention the regulations offhand.

He said although it was unacceptable for schools to accept pupils who had failed, institutions were doing it anyway, acknowledging some are doing it for a quick buck.

“Schools take these students with the hope they will pass when they sit for the June O-level examinations. It always happens. For example, some children may have five O-levels but with no English or Mathematics yet they would have passed other subjects like History, Chemistry and Physics. These pupils may proceed to A-Level and do a combination of sciences but will write the O-levels to supplement what they failed. The logic is they supplement as they go on. But basically it’s inadmissible for schools to take children without the 5 subjects,” he said.

Mr Moyo said those children submitted in Lower Sixth classes failed to raise the required O-levels again, it was up to parents to prosecute the institutions, as they would have paid school fees to the schools.

He said schools had been enlightened on this possibility and parents could take up action against the institutions as there is no way one can write A-levels without having five O-levels.

“It means parents will continue paying money until the child passes. The ministry could always check on the schools to make sure the pupils who failed resat examinations but parents have to take the issue up. Schools know about this, I can’t continue repeating it,” he said.

Education Minister, Senator David Coltart said it was common practice for schools to register Lower Sixth pupil who failed their O-levels. He said usually private schools took in the children but the catch was they had to make sure they passed their O-levels before sitting for A- level examinations.

“This happens because institutions know the children will get a second chance during the June examinations. The ministry can’t really put a stop to it because children and parents will always look for alternative private colleges,” he said.

Senator Coltart said he was aware parents risked paying extra fees because no child could write A- levels without the stipulated five O-levels.

“A child can go up to From Six but the law is, one writes their A’s after passing their O’s. What schools and colleges are doing is illegal yes, but then schools and parents get into these arrangements and contracts,” he said.

Sunday News

6 April 2013

THE Zimbabwe School Examination Council (Zimsec) has remained among top examination boards of repute in the continent and the world despite local accusations of maladministration and a coterie of other challenges it is facing.

Responding to questions by the Sunday News, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Senator David Coltart said Zimsec’s marking system was top of the drawer and the envy of many examination boards in the region and held its own among the best in the world, a feat that had not been achieved by regional counterparts.

He said Zimsec had graduated from the Conveyer Belt Marking System to E – marking, which is the most up to date marking system in the world today.

Minister Coltart said although Zimsec had received a barrage of criticism locally for leakages, burglary and theft of question papers as well as failure to release certificates in time due to financial constraints, to characterise the occurrences as rampant was an exaggeration.

“Zimsec’s marking system and general administration of examinations is very credible. In fact it has improved over the years to become the envy of many examination boards in the region and hold its own among the best worldwide.

“Zimsec has graduated from the Conveyor Belt Marking System to E – marking, the most up to date marking system in the world today.  ZIMSEC has hosted regional examination boards like Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC), the Examination council of Zambia (ECZ) the national Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA), the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) and the Examinations Council of Swaziland (ECOS) all seeking to know how ZIMSEC has achieved this feat,” he said.

Minister Coltart added that a leak or an examination malpractice was not acceptable and punitive measures were always taken on those who leak examination papers with Zimsec always making sure that the leaked papers were replaced by new ones to eliminate the possibility of any candidate getting an unfair advantage over others.

He said in many such cases the examinations were taken on the original scheduled dates and thus keeping schedules intact.

“A leakage or an examination malpractice of any sort is not acceptable for any examination session.  However, to characterize the occurrence of leakages in our examination system as ‘rampant’ is an exaggeration.  It may also be helpful to distinguish between ‘a leak’ – where someone deliberately and corruptly allows a candidate to gain foreknowledge of the question paper and criminal activities like burglary and theft or recklessly failing to secure question papers in your custody.

“The burglary and theft of question papers in 2010 at Chongogwe High School and the loss of a question paper carton containing 13 different papers by the Headmaster of Sijaugwe Secondary School in October 2012 are among the few cases we have encountered.  In both cases, all the papers that could not be accounted for were replaced by new ones and the possibility of any candidate getting unfair advantage was, therefore, eliminated.  The examinations were taken on the originally scheduled dates, thus keeping schedules intact.  While all this was disconcerting, the rigour and high quality of assessment was not unduly affected,” he said.

As regards the prompt production of certificates he said it was hampered by the lack of foreign currency in years prior to the use of the United States dollar adding that clearing that backlog was made difficult by inadequate funding levels.

He urged the nation to invest its confidence in Zimsec as it was very credible and recognised all over the world for its sterling marking system and high quality handling of examinations.

Daily News

By Sharon Muguwu

31 March 2013

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s public figures are increasingly utilising information technology gismos to promote their profiles in the seamless global village that the world has become thanks to technology. The Internet provides cheaper platforms for celebrities and other public figures to publicise their activities to their followers. These personalities employ social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter in addition to blogs and websites.

Arguably the most technologically-connected Zimbabwean public official is Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister Senator David Coltart. The Bulawayo senator has a Twitter and Facebook account. He also has his personal website on which people can get information on activities in his ministry. Through Twitter and Facebook people get a chance to interact with Coltart on issues to do with education and sport. The Education minister actively responds to tweets, comments and readily provides people with the information they need.

Another prolific user of information technology platforms is Youth and Indigenisation minister Savior Kasukuwere. Many Twitter users follow the controversial minister who is battling to recover from the Zimplats indigenisation scandal. Kasukuwere sometimes spends days without tweeting or posting anything on Facebook.

On the entertainment scene, comedian Carl Joshua Ncube is one celebrity who has mastered the intricacies of information technology. Ncube has a website, a Twitter, Facebook and a Youtube account. The stand-up comedian actively uses information technology platforms to connect with fans and market himself. Ncube is always tweeting, posting on Facebook and this has really helped in raising his profile. Ncube says the Internet is the best thing to happen to the showbiz industry which he uses to connect with the world and secure shows.

South African-based musician Nox (Enock Guni) is another celebrity who is exploiting the power of social networks to connect with his fans. Nox sometimes avails his music for free to his fans and followers, makes surveys on his music and generally interacts with fans who help him improve on certain aspects of his career. Nox is active on Tweeter, Facebook and Youtube.

Rapper Tehn Diamond is another musician who has embraced the social network platforms to good effect. He uses his website, Tweeter, Facebook and Youtube channel. He did a vigorous marketing campaign of his song Happy which saw it receiving about 7 000 views in its first week on YouTube. He is active on Facebook and Tweeter and like Nox at times allows fans to download his music for free.

Star Gist presenter and former Big Brother contestant Vimbai Mutinhiri is also another techno-celebrity Mutinhiri has both Facebook and Twitter accounts but is more active on Twitter. She is constantly in touch with her fans and friends via the social networks.

Sunday News

By Sunday News Reporter

24-30 March 2013

Teachers in the rural areas are set to receive a rural retention allowance as Government moves to bridge the gap between them and their urban counterparts.

The move comes amid revelations that most rural schools are manned by temporary teachers with the situation is some schools so critical that qualified teachers are outnumbered by unqualified teachers, as teachers are moving en mass to urban areas where incentives are higher than those received by rural teachers.

Responding to questions sent to the ministry by the Sunday News, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Senator David Coltart said the Government was doing a lot to reduce and possibly close the income disparities that currently exists between rural and urban teachers.

Although he could not be drawn into stating the figures involved, he said rural allowances were being re-introduced to attract teachers to rural schools so as to arrest the continued movement of teachers from rural to urban schools where they get better incentives.

He confirmed that the concentration of temporary teachers was more in rural areas than in urban schools but added that that was not necessarily so because of recruitment blunders.

The minister said qualified teachers were deployed first to rural schools and only went to urban schools through transfer.

“While disparities between the rural and urban schools seem to be pronounced, the Government of Zimbabwe has done a lot to equate the situation.”

“Rural allowances are being re-introduced to attract teachers to rural schools. Qualified teachers are deployed first to rural schools and only come to urban schools through transfer, EFT textbooks were both supplied to primary and secondary schools in rural and urban areas to try and improve the quality of education being offered.”

“Government provides per capita and higher equalisation grants are paid to rural schools P3 and S than the tuition grants paid to urban schools,” he said.

He added that all rural districts had vehicles for personnel to monitor the teaching and learning processes and improve the quality of education on offer, adding that they ministry together with co-operating partners set aside funds that were to be used to rehabilitate schools in both rural and urban areas.

He said as regards the constitution of schools in resettlement areas, the ministry had made significant strides together with stakeholders and parents.

He confirmed that some children in resettlement areas were learning in dilapidated farm houses that were not very safe and conducive especially during the rainy season as they were exposed to the vagaries of the weather.

“The ministry in collaboration with its partners has a programme to assess the situation at the district level and take action to rehabilitate buildings and protect the learners, teachers and the community at large from the vagaries of the agents of weather,” he added.

He said it was their wish to see a situation where teachers would move from urban schools to rural schools as the conditions would be the same.

The Herald

By Robson Sharuko

28 March 2013

AMID the ruins of a World Cup campaign that lies in tatters, a rainbow of hope created by an incredible outpouring of goodwill towards the Warriors, even in their hour of failure, has emerged on the horizon.

For once, the majority of their fans appear to have chosen to embrace the team and look beyond the short-term goal of qualifying for Brazil and the painful reality that this campaign has turned into the worst World Cup adventure in the Warriors’ history.

The Warriors find themselves bottom of their group, with just a point to show for their troubles at the halfway mark of their quest to qualify for Brazil, the worst position they have ever been at this stage of the World Cup qualifiers in the past 33 years.

Only Cape Verde, who are bottom of Group B of the African Zone qualifiers without a point in their three matches, are in a worse position than the Warriors, among the 40 nations from the continent, who are battling it out for the five tickets to Brazil.
Five other nations — Botswana, Gambia, Sudan, Rwanda and Togo — are in the same position as Zimbabwe with just a point after three matches and, in terms of overall classification, the Warriors are currently in 34th place, out of the 40 teams, who are in the trenches fighting for a dance in the Land of Samba.

Zimbabwe’s painful 1-2 defeat, at the hands of group leaders Egypt in Alexandria on Tuesday night, all but ended the Warriors’ quest for a place in Brazil given that it left them trailing the Pharaohs by eight points with just nine points still left to be played for in the battles.
But rather than abandon their team, the fans appear to have been charmed by the solid performance of a youthful brigade of Warriors in Alexandria, who battled long and hard and came within four minutes of regulation time of snatching a draw that would have tasted like a landmark victory.

German coach, Klaus-Dieter Pagels, in his first competitive assignment of the Warriors, won the hearts and minds of the fans back home, and the respect of commentators who had questioned his decision to invest his trust in a number of rookies, after a gusty display by his players.
It wasn’t a spectacular performance but it was solid and Pagels’ lads fused confidence, into their fans watching the drama back home, that this young team could be nurtured into something really special, to compete for honours on the continent, if given the support it richly deserves.

That Pagels went into battle with a weakened team, after a number of his first-choice regulars pulled out for one reason or another, the main one being injury, had deflated optimism among that fans that the Warriors could stand the test of the Pharaohs, in their backyard, on Tuesday.

But Pagels’ boys, who have the potential of turning themselves into men who can be a fierce force to reckon with, charmed their fans with their committed display, refusing to be swallowed by the occasion and standing, toe-to-toe with the Pharaohs, in an intriguing battle royale.

That they would not perform as an oiled machine was largely expected but very few expected them to play with hearts of lions and it soon became clear, in the first 20 minutes of that showdown, that we were watching a proper national football team, playing to a certain structure, and competing with pride and courage.
In the week that Zambia’s Sports Minister, Chishimba Kwambili, branded Chipolopolo’s 1-1 draw in Lesotho as a “rubbish” result and threatened to disband the team and also withdraw government funding, there was a warm reception to the Warriors when they returned home yesterday even though they were coming from a failed mission.

In sharp contrast, there was a warmth extended to the Warriors, even though they crashed to their second defeat in three World Cup qualifying matches, and most of the fans and commentators appeared confident that the future looks rosy and Pagels could be the man to unlock value in the team.

Questions will be asked about some of his choices and decisions, like the late introduction of a forward Tafadzwa Rusike at a time when the Warriors should have looked for defensive reinforcement and stability to preserve the point they had worked hard to get.
Or the value that any of his substitutes added to the game or who should be the leader between Denver Mukamba or Washington Arubi and, if it was the latter who was calling the shots on the field on Tuesday, wasn’t it possible that things could have turned out differently?

But what will be remembered is how Pagels made this team attractive once again, at the same time playing with an efficiency that had lacked in their recent matches, and the German coach and his players emerged as heroes, on the night, for doing more right things than the wrong ones.
For a refreshing change, you could feel a fresh breeze blowing across our football landscape, as the boys battled in Alexandria and matters of the field took centre stage from matters of the boardroom, and the more they battled, they more they drew fans into their corner.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, David Coltart, said it was painful to swallow the reality that the Warriors were now out of the World Cup but it was impossible to ignore the promise of the good work done by Pagels in Egypt.
“Warriors have gone down to Egypt and so are out of World Cup,” said Coltart. “Much work still to be done to restore excellence to Zimbabwe football.

“Although we lost today I am encouraged by what Klaus Dieter Pagels is doing for the Warriors. We need to give new Zim football a chance.”
Former Zimbabwe international forward, Alois Bunjira, who is now a sports analyst on radio, said defender Augustine Mbara, who committed the foul that led to the late Egyptian winner, could have done better but, overally, there were more positives than negatives.

“The worst reckless tackle I have ever seen. He was late into that tackle and nowhere near the ball. All he could have done was delay the guy and force him to an angle or otherwise trust his keeper and force the striker to take a shot at goal,” Bunjira wrote on his Facebook wall.
“The striker was not in an obvious scoring position. That’s why he even got a yellow card instead of red. But we have all made mistakes but we cannot keep quiet when they are made. He will learn from his mistakes and know better next time.

“If we don’t tell him now about the mistake he won’t learn. He will think he did well and the ref was unfair, which is not true. When we analyse, we don’t have to be biased. That was a clear penalty from a mistimed tackle.”

Bunjira said his fears were that this team, which showed a lot of promise, would be disbanded, if things don’t go according to plan, and the exposure that players like Mbara received in Egypt would go to waste.
“My concern is that Mbara has gained experience. By the time he is a seasoned defender, with all the experience, we will start hearing people calling for new blood saying Mbara is old,” said Bunjira.

“We will bring in another youngster who will start by making similar mistakes and the cycle continues. My call is to keep this team intact until they decide to retire on their own instead of having every new coach coming in to rebuild. We will never have a stable experienced team that way.
“No more rebuilding please, Zifa please, let’s stick with this team all the way to Afcon 2019 when all these boys will be seasoned, experienced and armed with footballing maturity.”

Clemence Marijeni, Zimbabwean journalist based in England, said the qualifying formula used by Fifa for the World Cup was very unfair.
“It’s so sad. To qualify for World Cup, England play the likes of San Marino while Zimbabwe play Egypt. The World Cup qualifying process is stupid to say the least,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

“This is a World Cup, for God’s sake, and not a continental tournament so why should qualification be on a regional basis? Why won’t Zimbabwe, for once, play against San Marino, Belarus, Kazakhstan?
“I’m so saddened when England go to the World Cup and the likes of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador are not there. Their crime — their continent is too good.”

The Herald

By Felex Share

26 March 2013

HIGH Court judge Justice Charles Hungwe reportedly held a court hearing in the dead of the night at his Darwendale farm when he ordered the release of Harare lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa last week, it has emerged.

The order was allegedly granted in the presence of some court officials and the defence team without representatives from the Attorney-General’s Office.
Highly-placed sources said Justice Hungwe directed the court officials and the defence team to his farm, through an SMS, on the evening of Sunday March 17 before ordering the release of Mtetwa in the early hours of the following day.

Mtetwa had been arrested that Sunday by detectives from the Law and Order section on charges of obstructing the course of justice after she allegedly tried to block the arrest of four MDC-T officials.

The officials had been arrested on allegations of compiling “dockets” against Government officials they accused of being corrupt and they are charged with impersonating the police, possessing articles for criminal use and breaching the Official Secrets Act.

Following the arrest, Advocate Thabani Mpofu, instructed by Mr Harrison Nkomo of Mtetwa and Nyambirayi, made an urgent chamber application seeking Mtetwa’s release.

Justice Hungwe could not be reached for comment yesterday.

This is not the first time such unprocedural things have occurred. Retired High Court Judge Fergus Blackie grabbed the headlines in 1995 when he faced a judiciary inquiry for convening what was dubbed a kangaroo court in Nyamandlovu near Bulawayo at night, to free commercial farmers that had been arrested hours earlier by the police.

The farmers, who were defended by Mr David Coltart, who is now MDC Senator, were re-arrested and later released on bail by a regular court.
The judge was suspended while a three-man tribunal was set up to investigate his conduct.
The independent body found him not guilty of serious misconduct, but ordered him to be reprimanded.

Justice Blackie was again in the limelight in 2001 after he set free two white suspects who had been denied bail by another black judge.
The pair was facing charges of defrauding the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe of over ZW$146 million.
Justice Blackie was arrested in 2002 on charges of breaching the Prevention of Corruption Act after an alleged improper handling of a criminal case involving a white woman.

Sources close to Justice Hungwe’s matter yesterday said in the evening of March 17, a High Court official received a call from Adv Mpofu who informed him that he wanted to make an urgent chamber application.

“The High Court official referred Adv Mpofu to another official who was on duty for him to make arrangements with the judge,” the source said.
“The official then arrived at the High Court at around 7:30pm where he phoned the duty judge who was Justice Hungwe. The judge then directed the court official to bring the record and the applicants to his farm at Darwendale.”

The source said Justice Hungwe sent a text message to the court official giving him directions to his farm.
“The court official then travelled to the Honourable Judge’s farm in the company of the applicant’s lawyers who are namely Advocate Mpofu, Mr Hwacha, Mr Nkomo and two other lawyers from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights,” the source said.

“The court official travelled in one of the lawyer’s vehicle. None of the respondents, including the office of the Attorney-General were present or represented.”
The source said the application, which was brought under a certificate of urgency, was heard and granted at the judge’s farm shortly before the cocks crowed at around midnight.

“The parties travelled back to Harare and arrived at around 1am,” the source said.
“The court official took the record and the applicant’s lawyers to the judge’s farm on the directives of Justice Hungwe and this is also confirmed by text messages sent by Justice Hungwe to the court official, giving directions on how to travel to the farm.”

Another source confirmed that the court official Adv Mpofu had initially phoned, had directed another court official to take over the matter.
The court official Adv Mpofu phoned received the phone call while he was at home and he referred him to another court official, the source added.
Adv Mpofu was told that the said court official would make arrangements for the duty registrar to attend to the matter.

The court official is said to have phoned his superior asking for another judge’s number, saying he had tried Judge Hungwe’s number without success.
The court official was given Justice Chatukuta’s number.

Sources said there was no communication from there until towards 1 am the following morning when the lawyer called the court official saying he wanted him to sign their order which they had been granted.

The court official, however, refused to sign the order and advised his colleague who was present when the order was granted to sign it instead.
Efforts to get comment from the Attorney-General’s Office were fruitless.

The Guardian

By David Smith

26 March 2013

A leading human rights lawyer spends eight days in jail; the prime minister’s office is raided, six of his staff arrested and three computers allegedly go missing; civil society groups warn of rising political violence and intimidation tactics. Plus ça change in Zimbabwe.

Yet thousands of miles away that is not, apparently, how things look from Brussels. On Monday the European Union dropped most of its sanctions against the southern African country, the most far-reaching olive branch for more than a decade.

This was in effect a reward for a “peaceful, successful and credible” referendum on a new constitution and designed to encourage further progress. The EU dropped its targeted measures against 81 officials and eight firms in Zimbabwe. Only 10 people, including President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace, and two companies, including the state-run Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), remain on the sanctions list, restricted by asset freezes and travel bans.

The move comes after years of declining political violence and slow economic recovery under a power-sharing agreement that followed the violently disputed 2008 election. Since then, with the world’s gaze diverted by the Arab spring and African coups, Zimbabwe has dropped down the list of crises requiring urgent attention and begun to woo tourists again. Now the incident-free referendum and easing of sanctions appears to put the seal on the notion that the country has more or less “normalised”.

Yet the unfortunate coincidence of the referendum with the arrest of lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, finally released on Monday, and six members of prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s staff, suggests that in Zimbabwe “normal” is still a long way from ordinary. Mtetwa warned: “It is a personal attack on all human rights lawyers but I was just made the first example. There will be many more arrests to follow as we near elections.”

Hardliners in Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party are accused of ongoing abuses. Four rights and advocacy groups have been raided by police searching for alleged subversive materials so far this year. Activist Okay Machisa was locked in police cells for almost a month only for the charges to be dropped.

Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) alleged recently that one of its members lost his 12-year-son to a house fire started by “known Zanu-PF thugs”.

Analysts predict a rise in intimidation tactics before elections this year.

“It looks somewhat incongruous to lift sanctions in the context of some of the violations that are continuing,” said Piers Pigou, Southern Africa project director of the International Crisis Group. “It’s another episode of bad timing from the EU. They said, ‘If you have a good referendum process, we’ll reward you’. They could have put it in a broader context with
qualifiers. They’ve been clumsy in the way they’ve handled this. It’s part of a broader pattern of clumsiness.”

Emily Armistead, a lead campaigner on conflict diamonds at Global Witness, said: “It’s a relief that the EU has at least maintained sanctions against state-owned diamond miner ZMDC. Our research shows the company is involved in off-budget financing of the army and secret police, organisations linked to violence and intimidation in previous elections. We remain concerned, though, that relaxing sanctions reflects the EU’s keenness to see the Zimbabwe problem ‘solved’ before free and fair elections have taken place, so that it can turn its attention elsewhere.

“Now is a critical time for EU governments to do all they can to support Zimbabwe’s full democratic transition.”

However, the relaxation of sanctions is welcome news to those who believe they have long been counter-productive, gifting Mugabe and Zanu-PF an excuse for the country’s economic troubles and a rallying point to whip up anti-western sentiment. From this perspective, Mugabe has just lost a major propaganda tool.

David Coltart, the education minister and member of an MDC faction, said: “My view is that sanctions have outlived their purpose and were being cynically manipulated for political ends. There are elements of hardliners in government who don’t want sanctions lifted. Often we see that when sanctions are about to be lifted some appalling action is taken, which may help explain the arrest of Beatrice Mtetwa. It happens too often to be a coincidence.”

The new constitution was endorsed by Zanu-PF and the MDC, so serious violence was never likely during the referendum. The elections, which Mugabe wants in June, are likely to be a different story. “Although things have
improved dramatically in the last four years, there are still terrible things happening in the country and there are still hardliners doing all they can to derail the process,” warned Coltart.

“The lifting of sanctions should be seen as a calculated step to help the moderates in both the MDC and Zanu-PF to chart a peaceful course amid these ongoing human rights violations.”

Few believe the elections will be as disastrous as in 2008 when some 253 people died, according to an MDC count. The new constitution will be in place and Zanu-PF is seen as less united. But its hardliners may have become more adept at using intimidation without spilling blood. And it is still hard to imagine a scenario in which Mugabe, who has ruled for 33 years, accepts defeat and leaves the stage gracefully. As Pigou noted: “We are far from out of the woods.”

The Chronicle

By Chronicle Reporter

24 March 2013

THE Government has set aside $9 million for the publication of indigenous language books under the Education Transition Fund (ETF).

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart on Wednesday said the funding was meant to encourage the development of local language writers.

This comes on the background of a general fear across the country that local languages are under threat as there are few writers to preserve them.

“Generally there is a shortage of writers in local languages not only for minority languages but for Shona and IsiNdebele,” said Minister Coltart.

“Our policy as a Government is to ensure that languages are given prominence and treated equally. To achieve this there is a need to write and publish more books in local languages.

“In that regard my ministry has set aside $9 million for local language writers under ETF.”

Traditional leaders and lobby groups have also expressed concern over low pass rates in local languages and implored the Government to take urgent steps to protect languages.

Contacted for comment, King Lobengula’s descendent and cultural activist, Mr Peter Zwide Kalanga Khumalo said books were the medium of cultural preservation.

“We commend the Government for taking such steps to promote local languages. Lack of local language writers can result in the death of our culture.

“The ministry should reinvigorate local language writers in schools by teaching all languages with emphasis on preserving culture.

“Schools should establish budding writers’ clubs and identify talented writers in their communities who would inspire the pupils and give them writing skills.

“This would be a more practical and pro-active way of preserving our languages and the Government should avail funding to sponsor such initiatives,” said Mr Khumalo

There have also been calls for the Government to have affirmation on enrolment of local language teacher training institutions with the view of beefing up qualified staff who would teach these languages in school.

Nehanda Radio

By David Coltart

23 March 2013

It is with great sadness that I learned yesterday of the passing of the great African man of letters, Chinua Achebe, who has died aged 82.

Through the deceptive simplicity of his writing, the Nigerian author opened the world to the joy, beauty and dignity of Africa. Nelson Mandela has said of him that he was ‘a writer … in whose company the prison walls fell.’

For the school children in Zimbabwe who read his books as part of their studies across the years, Achebe was often the first encounter with literature from the larger African continent.

His great creation Okonkwo, from the novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ has been studied, argued over, and quoted by thousands of Zimbabwean children.

His contribution to literature extends beyond his own work because his towering influence reaches our present generation of writers who are determined to tell the African story in African voices.

Achebe was also a great advocate for true and meaningful democracy in Africa, and was unflinching in his criticism of the corruption and waste that he saw in his homeland. He was a man of great wisdom and largeness of spirit.

On behalf of the Government and people of Zimbabwe I convey our deepest sympathy to the people of Nigeria and his family.

We join with his family, his friends, and the many people around the world who loved this giant of African writing, in mourning his loss, and in celebrating his contribution to the growth of our literature.

Senator David Coltart, Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture

Statement by Senator David Coltart, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture on the death of Chinua Achebe, Nigerian Writer

23 March 2013

It is with great sadness that I learned today of the passing of the great African man of letters, Chinua Achebe, who has died aged 82. Through the deceptive simplicity of his writing, the Nigerian author opened the world to the joy, beauty and dignity of Africa. Nelson Mandela has said of him that he was ‘a writer … in whose company the prison walls fell.’

For the school children in Zimbabwe who read his books as part of their studies across the years, Achebe was often the first encounter with literature from the larger African continent. His great creation Okonkwo, from the novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ has been studied, argued over, and quoted by thousands of Zimbabwean children.  His contribution to literature extends beyond his own work because his towering influence reaches our present generation of writers who are determined to tell the African story in African voices.

Achebe was also a great advocate for true and meaningful democracy in Africa, and was unflinching in his criticism of the corruption and waste that he saw in his homeland. He was a man of great wisdom and largeness of spirit.

On behalf of the Government and people of Zimbabwe I convey our deepest sympathy to the people of Nigeria and his family. We join with his family, his friends, and the many people around the world who loved this giant of African writing, in mourning his loss, and in celebrating his contribution to the growth of our literature.