Newsday

29 March 2012

Zanu PF supporters on Wednesday turned President Robert Mugabe’s launch of a government e-learning programme at Chogugudza Primary School in Domboshava into a party event, turning up clad in their party regalia and chanting praise songs for the 88-year-old party leader.

MDC-T national organising secretary and Information Communication Technology minister Nelson Chamisa, who also officiated at the event, objected to this and said such behaviour provoked and alienated other political parties taking part at such events.

The e-learning programme is a joint project administered by Mugabe, Chamisa and David Coltart’s Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture.

“We are in an inclusive government and I am excited I am here to celebrate the significance of successfully delivering education to our children,” Chamisa said.

Speaking at the same occasion, Mugabe said: “We want to build a legacy. We will not live forever and we should live wise people. You heard him (Chamisa) say he got to where he is because of the education system that was there.”

The Zanu PF leader later donated 10 computers each to 20 schools in Mashonaland East Province.

On Monday, MDC-T sources accused Mugabe of hijacking the project from Chamisa.

But Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba dismissed the allegations, saying his boss had initiated the programme by doling out thousands of computers throughout the country’s schools 10 years ago.

The launch was attended by Mashonaland East governor Aeneas Chigwedere and Cabinet ministers from Zanu PF and the MDC formations.

By Felex Share

28 March 2012

Government and its development partners yesterday signed a U$38 million agreement under the Education Transition Fund Phase II. The funds, provided by UKAid, are expected to enhance and improve governance systems and training of teachers.

Unicef, working with the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, will manage the fund for the next four years. The agreement comes at a time Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart yesterday said his ministry had engaged the Ministry of Home Affairs to curb illegal selling of textbooks donated to Government.

Minister Coltart said Government will not hesitate to punish provincial and district education officers and headmasters who might have diverted the textbooks. “I have talked to the Home Affairs Ministry and they said they would soon give a directive to the Zimbabwe Republic Police such that they launch a blitz on the vendors,” he said.

Minister Coltart said the vendors will be quizzed to reveal their sources.

“If this continues, we would destroy the education sector which we have been building for many years.”

He said transporters of the textbooks were paid once confirmation of receipt of the delivery of all books was provided by each school.

He said upon delivery, all school authorities were instructed to ensure appropriate stamping and identification of the books to keep the books protected from illegal sales.

Steel cabinets were also provided to the schools to ensure safekeeping of the books. “My permanent secretary will issue a directive to all education directors at provincial level down to the headmasters telling them of their responsibilities.  “Anyone found on the wrong side of the law will face the full wrath of the law.”

Thousands of the 22 million textbooks donated to schools under the ETF Phase 1 have flooded the informal market with reports that some officials involved in the distribution exercise diverted them for their personal gain.

Minister Coltart said the agreement signed yesterday will have a “huge impact” on Zimbabwe’s education.  “This phase is broader in scope as it covers a lot of strategic areas,” he said.  “The funds will also help in the finalisation of a national sector planning framework for education, the development of a national school grants initiative and train key ministry personnel.”

He said the facility will also introduce second chance programmes to school drop outs.  “This provides all children with equal opportunity that can transform their future,” he said.

Head of UKAid in Zimbabwe Mr Dave Fish said this was a country of “massive potential”.

“Its natural human resources are so great that if used for the benefit of all the people there would soon be no need for external donors.” He said governments should give children the necessary support to develop as they are the future of any nation.

27 March 2012

Education Minister David Coltart has warned that students from Matabeleland North are being crowded out of university opportunities because of a breakdown in education infrastructure in the province.

On average, 20 pupils share a single desk in the province, while 17 share a bench.

Presenting shock statistics, Coltart said of the 175,000 pupils who sat O’ Level exams in the province last year, just 137 had sat Maths and Science exams – which dramatically lengthened the odds of pupils from the area making it to university.

“These figures are unacceptable and they should be improved,” Coltart said, speaking at the commissioning of a new classroom block at Somgolo Primary School in Lupane which was financed by the Czech Republic.

Matabeleland North, Coltart said, only had 26 A’ Level schools – far too few too absorb the O’ Level students.

He added: “The level of poverty in this province is alarming. About 40 percent of children learn under trees because of a shortage of classrooms.

“This region has been through difficult times over a protracted period of time and this had adversely affected infrastructure development.

“There is an urgent need to allocate more resources to the education sector which is the backbone of the economy. Countries with strong economies have a strong education system.”

Not only were poorly-equipped schools unlikely to attract specialist teachers for Science and Maths, Coltart said, but they also produced a generation of drop-outs.

The Matabeleland North deputy provincial education director Matthias Luphahla said the province was being exploited for timber by large companies who invested little in local communities.

“Something should be done to improve the furniture shortage in order to create a friendly learning environment for our children,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Transport and Infrastructure Development Ministry donated 76 benches, 38 desks and 10 chairs to Mbuhulu Primary School and a consignment of textbooks for major subjects to Dlamini High School in the same province.

The ministry also pledged to repair the solar energy system at the two schools to provide power especially for computers that were donated by President Robert Mugabe.

VOA

By Tatenda Gumbo

27 March 2012

Secretary general Raymond Majongwe of the Progressive Teachers Union says there is a loophole in the system allowing vendors to access the textbooks, which is a shame as school children are again missing out on a proper education.

Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Education has launched an investigation after teachers union organizations reportedly confiscated from street vendors textbooks that were donated by the United Nations Children Fund but soon found their way onto the streets.

The textbooks for both primary and secondary schools were donated under the Education Transition Fund, set up in forging the revitalisation of the education sector.

The books that normally retail from $12 to $20 were selling on the streets for $7 to $10 dollars each.

The Ministry of Education said in a statement it had transported the textbooks to the schools with the help of UNICEF with each school receiving steel cabinets to guard against theft, maintaining any sale of text books by vendors is at a small scale and will be confined to the purchase by a small number of non-registered or informal schools

“Transporters were only paid once confirmation of receipt of the delivery of all books was provided by each school principal. There is therefore no possibility of books being diverted prior to delivery to the school,” said the statement signed by Minister David Coltart,  “upon receipt, all school authorities were instructed to ensure appropriate stamping and identification of the books as a measure to keep the books protected from sales.”

The ministry along with UNICEF in the first phase of the ETF distributed more than 22 million textbooks to all primary and secondary schools in Zimbabwe, including English, Mathematics, Shona, Ndebele, and Geography books, shifting the pupil textbook ratio from a crippling 10:1 to 1:1.

Secretary general Raymond Majongwe of the Progressive Teachers Union says there is a loophole in the system allowing vendors to access the textbooks. He told reporter Tatenda Gumbo it’s a shame school children are again missing out on a proper education.

“We are now getting reports that certain schools never received certain books, there are others that have been lost through the school structure, there are some that have been stolen, there are others coming from uncertified sources, but in all it is corruption,” said Majongwe

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, through its Department of International Development, today allocated nearly $38 million  to the second phase of the Education Transition Fund.

The funds will go towards accelerating the revitalization of the education sector and giving a second learning chance to school drop-outs, especially girls who have failed to proceed to secondary school.

Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa

By Richard Lee

27 March 2012

Zimbabwe’s education system has received a huge boost from the UK’s Department of International Development (DFID), which has announced that it is allocating US$38 million to the second phase of the Education Transition Fund (ETF).

The Fund, which is managed by UNICEF, has already helped to stabilise the country’s crumbling school system and this additional support will help to accelerate the revitalisation of the education sector by contributing to improving schools systems and governance, enhancing teaching and learning, and providing second chance learning opportunities for the large number of out-of-school children, particularly girls who do not proceed to secondary school.

“The success of the first phase of the ETF has demonstrated the remarkable results that can come out of strategic collaboration between the government and development partners in relation to education,” said David Coltart, the MDC Minister for Education, Sports, Arts and Culture. “Already we are seeing impressive improvements in the sector. This second phase will further complement the advances already being made in improving the quality of Zimbabwe’s education.”

The first phase of ETF saw the procurement and distribution of more than 22 million textbooks to all primary and secondary schools in Zimbabwe. All books for primary and secondary schools have been distributed, including English, Mathematics, Environmental Science, Shona, Ndebele, History and Geography – shifting the pupil textbook ratio from a crippling 10:1 to 1:1.

This contribution adds to the support that other donors – including Germany, Finland, the European Union and OSISA – have already provided to the second phase of the ETF.

The Herald

27 March 2012

President Mugabe is expected to officially launch the e-learning programme at Chogugudza Primary School in Goromonzi District tomorrow. The massive computerisation programme targets all schools in Zimbabwe by 2015 as the country moves towards a knowledge based economy.

Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa said: “His Excellency the President will officially launch the e-Learning Centre at Chogugudza.”

He said Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart will also grace the occasion, where a computer laboratory was built.

Minister Chamisa, however, blasted telephone service providers for profiteering despite reduction of duty and exemption of most of their communication equipment from paying duty by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.

“Base stations are coming in duty free and even software and other ICT equipment but the cost is not going down.

“We are currently working with the regulator to review the pricing. There is no system in place.

“We need a new pricing model so that customers get value for their money,” Minister Chamisa said.

He said Government will protect the public from unscrupulous telephone service providers and urged them to source for investors not to squeeze the public of their hard-earned cash.

“Service providers should look for investors and never to use customers as investors.

“You will begin to skin the customer alive because you are trying to get money.

“So we will protect customers from unscrupulous activities.

“We don’t want price controls,” Minister Chamisa said.

He said Zimbabwe had made significant strides in the ICT sector and use of technology had increased from 13 percent to 72 percent.

Minister Chamisa said by 2015 Zimbabwe would be counted among ICT developed countries as the e- Learning programme will also be introduced in clinics and hospitals among other institutions.

He also said e-Governance was already functioning as computers had already been introduced to parliamentarians.

Minister Chamisa said the programme had been received well by parliamentarians and most of them were eager to learn computers.

He said ICT was the backbone of any developing nation and his ministry will ensure that by 2015 every household should have access to or exposed to the digital world.

Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture

Harare

27 March 2012

The Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture (MOESAC) wishes to announce the completion of the distribution of more than 22 million textbooks under the Education Transition Fund (ETF) programme. The ETF-supported distribution was a massive exercise carried out from late 2010 to early 2012 to ensure that all school children in Zimbabwe have access to essential reading and learning materials, making Zimbabwe the only country in Africa with an estimated ratio of pupils to textbooks of 1:1

While the procurement of textbooks was handled by UNICEF, the distribution of the textbooks was conducted jointly by MOESAC and UNICEF. Transporters were only paid once confirmation of receipt of the delivery of all books was provided by each school principal. There is therefore no possibility of books being diverted prior to delivery to the school. Upon receipt, all school authorities were instructed to ensure appropriate stamping and identification of the books as a measure to keep the books protected from sales, while steel cabinets were also provided to ensure safeguarding of the books. Once delivered to the schools, the books became the responsibility of each individual school headmaster and remain the property of the MOESAC.

MOESAC has noted recent reports (Herald article, 27 March) indicating that a small percentage of these books are being sold on Zimbabwe’s streets or in book-shops. The Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture is launching an investigation to establish the veracity of these reports and the magnitude of any problem found. Anyone found selling or facilitating the sale of ETF textbooks will be prosecuted for theft because all textbooks are Government property and are not for sale. In addition, any teacher found to be charging money for the books or hindering free access to the books by students will also be prosecuted and face severe disciplinary proceedings.

Given that we have confirmation that all registered schools have received textbooks, and that therefore any market for books will be confined to the small number of non-registered or informal schools, we do not believe that this problem is a large scale one. We are also pleased that all monitoring data confirm the widespread availability, usage, and indeed deep appreciation of the books by children. A nationally representative survey conducted around one year after the primary school textbook distribution indicated, for example, that more than 99 per cent of the schools received a full set of textbooks and were using them. However, MOESAC does not tolerate misuse of any donor funding and every case reported will be investigated thoroughly and in accordance with Zimbabwean law.

As a Ministry, we remain committed to providing all children in Zimbabwe with the required reading and learning materials and to fully revitalizing Zimbabwe’s education sector. We urge parents, guardians and the general public to assist in identifying any illegal sales of textbooks or other unethical behaviours and report such cases to the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture so that Government can enforce the relevant legal measures. The textbooks procured through ETF are in the following subjects-Maths, Environmental Science, English, Shona, Ndebele, History and Geography. All textbooks procured under ETF are marked as strictly NOT FOR SALE. It is also clearly indicated on all books that they are the property of the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture.

If you would like to report any possible misuse of these books, kindly write to The Secretary, Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, P. O. Box CY121, Harare; moesaczw@gmail.com or call 04-735633 / 734051-9.

I also encourage teachers, parents, guardians and indeed all Zimbabweans to report any vendors selling these books to the police. The police have been briefed on this situation and will respond immediately to arrest those engaged in this illegal activity.

Senator David Coltart

MINISTER OF EDUCATION, SPORT, ARTS AND CULTURE

ZimEye

27 March 2012

Zimbabwe’s used to boast of one of the top literacy rates in Africa, but the nation is now worse than it was in 2002.

Zimbabwe’s much touted literacy rate of more than 90% has been disputed as having been outdated since the figures are based on data collected by UNESCO and the government more than a decade ago.

According to a Zimbabwe Reads survey conducted in 2011 based on interviews with donor organizations, booksellers, publishers, librarians and educators late 2011 “best guesses are that Zimbabwe’s current literacy rate is now in the low-80s and is dropping. We roughly estimate that the literacy rate for those over 15 is dropping a half percent each year and that will accelerate to 1% each year as those who left school after 2005 reach age 15,” writes Zimbabwe Reads in its website.

The same organization goes on to state that the Zimbabwean education situation is likely to worsen if the current conditions continue to prevail adding that Zimbabwe might not even be the continent’s highest literary country.

“If current conditions continue, Zimbabwe will have a literacy rate of 70% in 2020. At this stage, it seems unlikely that Zimbabwe still has the highest literacy rate in Africa, with the more reliable estimates from Botswana (85%) and Tunisia (87%) probably surpassing it,” it states.

Zimbabwe Reads observes what it refers to as “a very disturbing tendency” of high rate of children dropping out of school since 2005 where it states that about 15% of the country’s children never enter the school system while a further 30% never make it to secondary schools.

According to the organization, the number of patrons in almost all the libraries in the country continue to decrease since the late 80s with the current figures standing at as less as half the 1989 figures. “In 1989, there were more than 150,000 registered public library users using 76 public libraries. The user numbers for 2011 are certainly less than half of that. The Bulawayo Public Library reported 10,289 patrons for the year preceding July 2011; the National Free Library had 8016 patrons (but only 250 paid the registration fee to borrow).”

The organization has also noted that most libraries in the country carry materials that are published only in English at the neglect of local languages estimating fewer than 50 titles in indigenous languages. Most books with titles in local languages are reported to have been published long ago and have been kept in stock by local bookshops like Mambo Press.

The Zimbabwean government and UNESCO reports that the country has a literacy rate of more than 90% with the current Minister of Education David Coltart intensifying efforts to restore the education sector which had sharply declined as a result of the economic meltdown which characterized the country for a period spanning to more than a decade.

Meanwhile the United Kingdom through its Department of International Development (DFID), has injected 24 million pounds (around 38 million USD) into the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Zimbabwe, to support the country’s second phase of the Education Transition Fund (ETF II) which is a multi-donor pooled fund set up at the inception of the inclusive government in 2009 by Education, Sports, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart in partnership with UNICEF in a bid to bridge the sector’s funding gap from emergence to recovery.

The Herald

By Felex Share

27 March 2012

Thousands of textbooks donated to primary and secondary schools countrywide under the Education Transition Fund have flooded the informal market.

There are reports that some officials involved in the distribution of the books diverted them for personal benefit.

It is alleged the scam also involves school officials as some of the textbooks bear school stamps.

This prompted the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe to launch a blitz on textbook vendors in Harare yesterday.

The union has since enlisted the services of the police in the blitz.

The union confiscated the books before handing them over to the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture offices.

Illegal textbook dealers are selling the donated books for between US$7 and US$10.

However, some versions of the same textbooks sold by city bookshops are ranging between US$12 and US$20.

ETF is a Government-initiated programme being coordinated by Unicef and other donors.

The fund, which has seen more than 22 million textbooks being distributed to primary and secondary schools countrywide, was established three years ago to mobilise resources for the education sector.

Interviewed textbook dealers yesterday said they were buying for resale the books from “education officials,” while others claimed they were salespersons for “big people”.

“This is not our problem. I buy them for US$3 or US$4 from my suppliers. I do not know where they get them,” said one vendor at the corner of Nelson Mandela Avenue and Leopold Takawira Street.

Another vendor added: “I work for someone and he is the one who supplies me with the books. What I only take is my commission and I don’t know where he gets them from.”

The textbooks on the streets are marked “Unicef” and bear a court of arms inscribed “Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture”.

ETF provided basic textbooks in English, Mathematics, Science, History and Indigenous Languages.

Education, Sport Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart, yesterday said the books were Government property and not for sale.

“I don’t know how the books end up in the streets because they went to the schools through our provincial offices,” he said.

“It appears there are corrupt elements in the distribution exercise or some school authorities are stealing them.

“As a country, it means we will never develop if corruption is not stamped out.”

Parents, he said, should stop buying the books as this “fuels” corruption.

He said Government was in the process of completing its “mop-up” to ensure that all schools received the textbooks.

“There are some schools which did not receive the books due to technical problems and Government is in the process of filling the gaps through the mop-up exercise. The books are not in short supply and parents should not buy from the street.”

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general, Mr Raymond Majongwe, yesterday said the proliferation of unregistered colleges was providing a “ready-market” for the textbook dealers.

He alleged that some teachers were also stealing the textbooks to supplement their “meagre” salaries.

“The private colleges were not given the books but we hear they also have those ETF textbooks,” he said.

“These are some of the people providing the dealers with a ready market and should be stopped.

“School officials are also involved because most of the textbooks we confiscated bear stamps of schools like Rakodzi High School in Marondera. It becomes clear that someone from the school is taking them out.”

Mr Majongwe said only a joint operation between teachers unions, police and ministry officials will stop “the rot”.

“What is needed is a well co-ordinated operation because there are many people in the rural areas who continue to suffer because of greedy people. If we don’t do that it means the poor will continue getting poorer,” he said.

Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Manuel Nyawo said those involved in the distribution were to blame.

“It means the books are not reaching the intended beneficiaries and the big loophole is in those distributing the books,” he said.

“This has to stop and Government should immediately find a solution.”

ZimEye

By Herbert Mugwagwa

26 March 2012

In December 1967, the late medical legend and icon Dr Christiaan Barnard of South Africa, had the first successful human-to-human heart transplant in the world. Suddenly, all doors swung open for him in the world and at one time he found himself wining and dining with the late President Lyndon Johnson of the USA. After this, he found the American press waiting for him with questions but it was one particular one, an innocent one whose answer made headlines the following day:’How did you see the American president?’ The until then naive doctor answered honestly and innocently, ‘He looked sleepy and tired.’ The following day headlines screamed, ‘American president tired,’ says heart surgeon; ‘President sleepy,’ says doctor, etc.

One can read the political connotations derived thereof. Welcome to the world of sensational reporting! And guess what? Zimbabwean journalists do not want to be left behind! This type of reporting where words are taken out of context mainly serve a three-fold purpose, namely, to push sales for the newspaper, push an agenda (mostly political) and make a name for the paper.

In most cases, it is the truth, just like in any war, that is the first casualty.

In Zimbabwe for you to know the absolute truth regarding an event or speech that was made, you have to be there or at least you have to read many articles on the same thing. Reading some newspapers here is akin to eating fish: eat carefully and painstakingly go through the process throwing away the sharp inedible parts lest you be choked.

I was there at the prayer meeting for peace organised by the pastors in Chitungwiza where the Prime Minister Mr Morgan Tsvangirai stated, “Well, you say leaders are chosen by God, then l was chosen by God.” Then he added, conciliatorily as an afterthought, ”Even President Mugabe himself was chosen by God.” The next morning the headline in the Sunday Mail was:”President Mugabe chosen by God-Tsvangirai”.

As we move towards the D-Day of elections it is imperative that politicians, especially those who hold high office and hence are regarded as important chose their words carefully and that they speak slowly and deliberately in order not to be capitalised upon by those on the other side of the political divide. Whilst one can argue that the above mild examples are not wholly wrong because they are correct, it cannot be denied that the press in Zimbabwe whether public or private is polarised since its either for or against the establishment.

There are worse and more serious examples of creating mountains out of molehills,making outright lies and deliberately slandering others. Recently the Herald tried to malign one of Zimbabwe’s ablest Ministers of Education in the mould of Dzingai Mutumbuka and Fay Chung, David Coltart, by accusing him of giving tenders to foreign companies when it is already a matter of public record that the publishing houses in Zimbabwe with their archaic machines and obsolete parts which we last bought almost twenty years ago cannot handle such huge volumes of books which were printed.

As Dzingai Mutumbuka said during a SAPES Trust seminar,

“The world was marching forward in leaps and bounds whilst we were sleeping.” Thus, we were left behind in terms of technologies and processes. Some journalists, radio and television presenters need to stop purveying lies, hatred and divisions in Zimbabwe by putting it first ahead of individuals for it will remain long after the politicians are gone.

It will be extremely sad if the nation is going to take the footsteps of Rwanda where some individuals from the Fourth Estate were later called to account for what they said or wrote since they had abused the journalistic privilege of informing by misinforming the nation.

Some, like H-Metro, sneak into private individuals’ lives. The fact that they are doing well in terms of sales does not mean they are right, it could be a reaction against the right and left wing press that has let Zimbabweans down. The press must learn to be responsible lest society moves in with ‘sinister’ legislation to force them to act responsibly and they begin to cry foul.

Cheque book journalism must not only be nipped in the bud but eradicated forthwith. It is, just like its Siamese twin of irresponsible and partisan reporting, an ill wind that blows nobody good, to use the hackneyed clause.