Zimbabwe Independent
Enock Muchinjo
12 February 2010

Sport has historically been overlooked by central government in Zimbabwe. While most countries have standalone sports ministries, in this country, it has always been merged with other departments of government. Even the formation of the inclusive government in Zimbabwe exactly a year ago failed to address this anomaly with sports being made to jostle for attention with education, arts and culture.

Thankfully, the sports side of the ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture benefited indirectly by getting a minister who knows his stuff insofar as as sport is concerned.

A sportsman of sorts himself, David Coltart outlined an impressive vision for Zim sports in his first interview with this newspaper soon after his appointment.

To an extent, the effect of the GNU has been felt in local sport.

Few months after assuming office, Coltart appointed a new board for the Sports and Recreation Commission. The SRC is the supreme-regulatory body for sports in Zimbabwe.

Introducing the new board, chaired by keen sports follower and Bulawayo lawyer Joseph James, Coltart told the media that government would now get more involved in regulating sports, through the SRC.

Up until the appointment of the new administration, the SRC had become utterly ineffective; ignoring the worst excesses of sports associations they are supposed to regulate either because the board itself was embedded, uninterested or just didn’t take its work seriously.

The previous SRC board’s record with Zimbabwean football is one of its greatest failures. All incoming and outgoing sports tours in Zimbabwe are supposed to be sanctioned by the SRC.

How Zifa were able to send the national team on frequent controversial trips to southeast Asia, where the hurriedly-assembled side got bashed by near minnows of world football, remain to this day a mystery.

Now, the new board is determined to put Zifa on a leash. Last week the top brass of the SRC summoned the Zifa board to a meeting in Bulawayo.

Such pressing matters as the Asian tours were deliberated, with Zifa being sternly warned against its wayward actions.

As the SRC firms its hand, the two sides seemed headed for a showdown in the last two weeks with Zifa insisting that its 2008 constitution, approved by Fifa, will be used for the forthcoming Zifa elections. The constitution had however not been registered by SRC.

One area of special interest to the inclusive government, through Coltart, is cricket. Coltart publicly declared to clean up the mess in the game after five years of turmoil.
But ZC were not prepared to sit and wait for the government to come and investigate. Some critics have dubbed it window-dressing, but call it what you want, some positives have taken place over the last months.

A new, professionalised domestic structure commended by no less than some of ZC’s fiercest critics, a reconciliation exercise that has seen the return of exiled players and officials and the coming in of overseas professionals to boost the domestic game; have all combined to give the game here a new sense of positive spirit that has given hope for revival.

While things cannot be said to be all rosy now at 45 Maiden Drive, and the greater goal of a Test return is not yet sealed, the new political dispensation can claim indirect credit for the local game’s mini-recovery.

Only last week, the re-launch of the Zimbabwe Open golf tournament – once one of the most prestigious events on the local sporting calendar — took place in Harare.
The Zim Open attracts a host of local and international professional golfers.

The return of the open would not have been possible had it not been for the gradual stabilisation of the economy under the inclusive government.

As the political sides continue negotiating outstanding issues in their unity deal, Zim sports can hold its breath – hoping that the gains gotten so far won’t be disturbed by the same politicians who have overlooked them for years.

The Zimbabwean
9 Feb 2010
Written by Frazer Muzondo

When President Robert Mugabe allocated the ministries between his party and the MDC upon formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU), he had only one thing on his mind. He wanted Zanu (PF) to maintain its grip on power so that it could continue to abuse its position for self gain. He gave the MDC those portfolios that were as good as dead and tasked them with clearing up the mess made by his incompetent ministers. He expected the MDC to fail to deliver so that people would blame them. In this new series, FRAZER MUZONDO analyses just what has happened during the first year.

Health

When people look at the Ministry of Health, now under the guidance of Henry Madzorera, compared to what it had become under the leadership of David Parirenyatwa during the tenure of the Zanu (PF) government, there is a huge difference that an ordinary person on the street can notice. The people of Zimbabwe can now talk of Harare Central Hospital (Pagomo) and Parirenyatwa Hospital and other provincial hospitals. These hospitals were virtually defunct, but now people are happy to have their relatives admitted at these government hospitals as they are assured of getting some form of medical care. Patients can now choose what food they want to eat and no longer need to bring their own hospital bedding or food. Patients no longer need to bring basic items such as gloves from home for medical staff to use when attending to them. Basic items in the hospitals also include doctors and nurses. These had disappeared during the Zanu (PF) government, but now they have been lured back to do the jobs they love to do.

Justice

The Ministry of Justice is still under a member of the old guard, Patrick Chinamasa, who, despite having lost the right to represent the people of Makoni, managed to retain his ministerial portfolio because he is a trusted lieutenant of Mugabe’s. Chinamasa managed to recruit the controversial Johannes Tomana as the Attorney General. With the help of Gideon Gono, the ministry has managed to buy luxury cars, plasma televisions and other goodies for the high court and supreme court judges as a thank you for the `good job` they are doing to keep MDC activists in custody. Magistrates who preside and rule in favour of opposition activists are intimidated. Court officials who process approved bail applications for opposition activists without consultation with Tomana and Chinamasa are fired.
Hundreds of MDC supporters have been killed, thousands have been raped, kidnapped and assaulted, tens of thousands tortured, but none of the Zanu (PF) perpetrators have been brought to justice.

And one of Tomana and Chinamasa`s greatest achievements in the eyes of their master is to keep Roy Bennett out of the government job he was appointed to do.

Education

The Ministry of Education is now under the leadership of David Coltart, an MDC legislator. The majority of schools had been closed during the tenure of headman Chigwedere and most teachers had left their jobs as they couldn’t afford to commute to their place of work. Most schools are now functional, with teachers back at work and children back to learn. When the minister took over, the exams that had been written the previous year had not been marked. They were marked and the results were released – although the exams were written under the supervision of Zanu (PF) youth militias. The ministry through its own audit has managed to remove these thugs off the teachers` payroll. Zanu (PF) was threatening the entire generation with illiteracy, because they know that knowledge is power so they were attempting to create a nation of illiterate people. The people of Zimbabwe are saying no to this, education is a right not a privilege.

Agriculture

The Ministry of Agriculture also under the old guard, in the person of Joseph Made. The ministry has done nothing to get the backbone of the economy back on track. Instead they have watched and encouraged more chaos on the few remaining productive farms. Since the formation of the GNU, the Zanu (PF) hardliners have intensified invasion of white owned commercial farms, disrupting productive commercial farming. So-called war veterans, army chiefs and Zanu (PF) bigwigs have grabbed more farms for themselves. More offer letters have been given out, evicting more white farmers and making more farm workers destitute. The ministry has done nothing to address the situation where farm workers are working for little or no pay on the farms acquired by the grabbers. The ministry has done nothing to improve the sector and make the country self-sufficient.

The nation shall remain an importer of all agricultural products for a long time to come unless the agricultural sector embarks on a seriously managed agrarian reform. Made is better off managing Mugabe`s farms than continuing to watch this mess continue while the country sinks deeper into poverty and continues to beg.

– Next week this analysis will cover the ministries of finance, youth, home affairs and defence.

AFP
7 February 2010
By Fanuel Jongwe

Harare – “No disruption to learning” touts a newspaper ad for a new private Zimbabwean school, one of many springing up in living rooms, backyards and plots across Harare. It’s a big selling point in a country where government schools lost an estimated 20 000 teachers in 2008, a year when students attended class only 50 days.

Teachers launched a new strike on Friday, raising worries about the new school year that began just last month. Zimbabwe’s crisis in education eased last year with the creation of a unity government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. That ended Zimbabwe’s economic freefall and halted the political unrest that saw nationwide attacks mainly against the premier’s supporters. But government schools still struggle with up to 50 students in a class and 20 children sharing a book. Cashing in on the situation, new private schools run by individuals, families and organisations are sprouting across the country, often inside homes, in yards and in plots designated by the municipalities, offering an alternative to parents. On pamphlets and flyers, in newspapers and on radio and television, advertisements promising anything from one-on-one tuition, free textbooks and transport, to a Christian environment, have become a familiar feature.

Education Minister David Coltart said the government realises that it does not have the resources to provide the schooling that was once the envy of Africa and made Zimbabwe the most literate country on the continent. “Our policy is, we recognise that we cannot hope to cater for the entire education of all Zimbabwean children as the government,” he said. “There is no doubt that the government has not been able to allocate sufficient money to education to be able to provide the educational service it has in the past. What’s of concern is that there is the establishment of schools that have not obtained authority to operate and the danger of that development is that standards will not be met.” Government inspectors tasked with monitoring schools don’t have access to transportation to visit all the new facilities, which in some cases are simply homes converted to schools, but without extra toilets or other amenities. “It has its good and bad sides,” said Lovemore Kadenge, a parent whose child attends one of the new schools in an upmarket suburb. “The mushrooming of private schools is a good idea. If we have many of them, there is competition, standards are improved and children have good education,” he said. “But there is a downside to it. It depends whether the government is monitoring the activities of these private schools. There should be a system in place to ensure the safety of the children.”

At the height of Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation in 2008, when prices rose several times a day and the local currency became worthless, qualified and experienced teachers left to seek better-paid jobs in neighbouring South Africa or Botswana, or as far away as Britain and Australia. Often they found work doing manual labour better paid than teaching. Those who remained practised what they termed “remote control teaching”, where they left their class under the charge of a pupil or student teacher while selling sweets on the roadside to supplement their pay. Even government schools charge fees, frustrating many parents who say they see little result for their money. “There is an admission that in the public school system there are problems, hence they are registering more players in the education sector, some of them charging slightly above government rates,” said Wellington Koke, who runs a private school in central Harare.

With a total enrollment of 50, Koke say his school will insist on small classes unlike government schools where a teacher can have a class of 50 pupils. His school is a refurbished home. “We have always had this idea of having well-paying pupils who are well-serviced,” Koke said. After government abandoned the local currency one year ago, teachers and other civil servants began receiving a flat salary of $150 a month – which was a significant improvement but still too little to make ends meet.

Teachers and civil servants are clamouring for raises, sparking fears among parents that their children could lose another year in the classroom to strike action. But Coltart worries that the new schools are springing up so quickly that parents have no way of knowing that basic standards are being met. “In principle I am not against the proliferation of private schools,” he said. “So long as they are within the laws of Zimbabwe and certain standards are met in terms of the state of the buildings and that there are sufficient safeguards to ensure that we don’t have paedophiles teaching at these schools.”

Sunday News
7 February 2010
Sunday News Reporters

Bulawayo City Councillors have said the rot in the education sector must be nipped in the bud and have called for the arrest of school heads reportedly barring students from attending lessons due to non-payment of tuition fees and levies, Sunday News can reveal.

Schools in Bulawayo have since the beginning of the school term sent away all students who have not fully paid school fees, a move that has been condemned by both Government and parents.

Debating at a full council meeting held at the council chambers last Wednesday, BCC councillors, condemned the move by school authorities, saying the school heads were proving to be impossible and their actions were against both council and Government directives.

The councillors said the school heads should always bear in mind that they were council and Government employees meant to operate as guided by the law.
Last year, 97 school heads from around the country were arrested for defying the Government directive not to bar students from attending lessons because of failure to pay school fees and levies.

Councillor for Ward 11 who is also the chairman of the finance and development committee, Nduna Dladla, said his committee was going to ensure that all heads found barring students from attending lessons at all council run schools would be disciplined for defying the local authority’s directive.

“We are going to ensure that normalcy returns to our schools. What the (school) heads are doing is wrong and illegal. It should not be allowed to continue,’’ he said.
Another councillor said the heads were operating above the parameters of council and it should immediately regain control over its schools.

“Council schools are sending children away and I do not remember us giving such a directive. This means what they are doing is illegal and council should thus descend on these illegal activities,’’ said the deputy mayor, Clr Amen Mpofu.

The deputy mayor said while they appreciated that children were supposed to pay their school fees it was not proper for them to be barred from attending lessons.
He said this gave the council a bad image and put them at loggerheads with the residents.

The councillors have also condemned the payment of teacher incentives saying this further burdened the already troubled parents.

“Council schools should only charge tuition fees and levies, not other charges that are being levied as at the end of the day schools do not benefit from such charges,’’ read part of the latest council minutes.

In an interview last week, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, condemned the move taken by school heads and urged them to desist from defying the ministry’s policies.

“School heads should desist from taking the law into their own hands. They have no right whatsoever to turn away students as I have always said,’’ said Senator Coltart.
Parents have also condemned the move by the schools to turn away students for failure to pay school fees and teacher incentives.
Last week, students were seen moving out of schools in hordes after being chased from some of the schools.
The move by school heads has prompted parents to call for the Ministry to reintroduce supervision of schools rather than the present scenario where school heads did as they pleased.
Parents said what school heads were doing was detrimental to the children’s future.
“The ministry is always saying it issued out circulars to all schools that no students should be turned away from school but everyday they return home. The minister has to be clear on this issue because (school) heads do as they please,’’ said a parent identified as MaSibanda.
Meanwhile, councillors have given parents the leeway to stagger payment of school fees, a situation that would see the parents paying the fees monthly rather than making one payment for the whole term.
According to the latest council report, it was noted that there was a need for parents to stagger fees payment as most of the parents were evidently facing financial constraints.
The councillors also noted that parents still owed council a total of US$797 343 and they were in the process of issuing out summons to the owing parents in a bid to recover the monies.

Sunday News
7 February 2010
Sunday News Reporters

Bulawayo City Councillors have said the rot in the education sector must be nipped in the bud and have called for the arrest of school heads reportedly barring students from attending lessons due to non-payment of tuition fees and levies, Sunday News can reveal.

Schools in Bulawayo have since the beginning of the school term sent away all students who have not fully paid school fees, a move that has been condemned by both Government and parents.

Debating at a full council meeting held at the council chambers last Wednesday, BCC councillors, condemned the move by school authorities, saying the school heads were proving to be impossible and their actions were against both council and Government directives.

The councillors said the school heads should always bear in mind that they were council and Government employees meant to operate as guided by the law.
Last year, 97 school heads from around the country were arrested for defying the Government directive not to bar students from attending lessons because of failure to pay school fees and levies.

Councillor for Ward 11 who is also the chairman of the finance and development committee, Nduna Dladla, said his committee was going to ensure that all heads found barring students from attending lessons at all council run schools would be disciplined for defying the local authority’s directive.

“We are going to ensure that normalcy returns to our schools. What the (school) heads are doing is wrong and illegal. It should not be allowed to continue,’’ he said.
Another councillor said the heads were operating above the parameters of council and it should immediately regain control over its schools.

“Council schools are sending children away and I do not remember us giving such a directive. This means what they are doing is illegal and council should thus descend on these illegal activities,’’ said the deputy mayor, Clr Amen Mpofu.

The deputy mayor said while they appreciated that children were supposed to pay their school fees it was not proper for them to be barred from attending lessons.
He said this gave the council a bad image and put them at loggerheads with the residents.

The councillors have also condemned the payment of teacher incentives saying this further burdened the already troubled parents.

“Council schools should only charge tuition fees and levies, not other charges that are being levied as at the end of the day schools do not benefit from such charges,’’ read part of the latest council minutes.

In an interview last week, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, condemned the move taken by school heads and urged them to desist from defying the ministry’s policies.

“School heads should desist from taking the law into their own hands. They have no right whatsoever to turn away students as I have always said,’’ said Senator Coltart.

Parents have also condemned the move by the schools to turn away students for failure to pay school fees and teacher incentives.

Last week, students were seen moving out of schools in hordes after being chased from some of the schools.

The move by school heads has prompted parents to call for the Ministry to reintroduce supervision of schools rather than the present scenario where school heads did as they pleased.

Parents said what school heads were doing was detrimental to the children’s future.

“The ministry is always saying it issued out circulars to all schools that no students should be turned away from school but everyday they return home. The minister has to be clear on this issue because (school) heads do as they please,’’ said a parent identified as MaSibanda.

Meanwhile, councillors have given parents the leeway to stagger payment of school fees, a situation that would see the parents paying the fees monthly rather than making one payment for the whole term.

According to the latest council report, it was noted that there was a need for parents to stagger fees payment as most of the parents were evidently facing financial constraints.

The councillors also noted that parents still owed council a total of US$797 343 and they were in the process of issuing out summons to the owing parents in a bid to recover the monies.

Zimbabwean
Written by Paul Ndlovu
Wednesday, 3 February 2010

HARARE – A lack of funds has hindered the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture’s plans to set up a framework to tighten the regulation of levies,a move that has prompted the minister to seek assistance from the World Bank.

David Coltart admitted that his ministry had not made much progress, as there were shortages of funds.

“The ministry has no money and is waiting for the provision of funds and technical assistance. I have asked for assistance from the World Bank,” he said.

Coltart said he was in the process of looking for a lawyer who would assist him in his mission.

Last year the ministry said it would work on new laws that would foster accountability and encourage payment of fees and levies. The ministry said the statutory instruments were supposed to tone down the abuse related to the paying of incentives to teachers.

That came as part of a solution when parents raised complaints about the way schools were demanding incentives. Schools also claimed parents were taking advantage of the situation by not paying any fees at all.

The minister said that although the plans were still skeletal, parents were welcome to contribute to the law making process.

He said parents could write to him and he would consider their views, as they were the ones who promote education by sending their children to school.

“I have set up a committee with trade unions under the guidance of a principal director of Human Resources in the Ministry. It is looking at the whole issue of fees, levies and incentives. I assure you we are looking at the finer details of that,” he said.

VOA
By Peta Thornycroft
1 February 2010

Police in Zimbabwe are warning they do not have enough money to feed people in holding cells around the country. The whole justice system in Zimbabwe is threatened by lack of adequate resources.

Although fewer people are being arrested now than in previous years, the police say they do not have enough money to feed those held in custody at police stations.

Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said if arrested people are not given food by relatives or from sympathetic policemen paying for food out of their own pockets, detainees are going hungry. He said policemen, like many other civil servants, are only earning about $150 a month.

Bvudzijena said the worst affected among those people arrested and held in rural police districts. He said some charitable organizations helped feed suspects in urban areas like Harare, but it is never enough.

The assistant commissioner said the police force received less than 10 percent of the funds it requested in the last budget. He said many police vehicles no longer work and the police infrastructure is disintegrating fast.

Insiders in the Department of Justice say it is also affected with a shortage of prosecutors, magistrates, and other staff servicing the courts. This is leading to longer stays in jail for prisoners awaiting trial.

Former Commercial Farmers Union president Trevor Gifford and a colleague were supposed to appear in court Friday in the eastern city Mutare. But there was no staff to process them and they were held in custody over the weekend.

They were arrested on contempt of court charges because, their lawyers say, they tried to deliver a High Court order to a presiding magistrate.

Other Zimbabwe government ministries are also short of cash. Education minister David Coltart said Sunday his allocation is $1 per child at school per month. He said this is a shocking statistic affecting three million school children.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti is raising about $90 million a month to run Zimbabwe and there are few indications revenue is going to increase.

The Herald
1 February 2010
By Felex Share

A major shake-up is looming at the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council this month in a move that will see a new board taking over from the Professor Phineus Makhurane-led board as Government moves to revamp operations at the examinations body.

The term of office of the current board officially ended in 2006 although the members are still in office.

This is in violation of the Zimsec Act that stipulates that the chairman of the board must be a serving Vice Chancellor of a university.

However, the current chairman, Prof Makhurane, ceased to be a Vice Chancellor of the National University of Science and Technology on June 30, 2004.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart last Friday said Government will shortly appoint on a new board to run the troubled examinations body.

He, however, declined to disclose the names of the proposed new board members.

Minister Coltart said “only a few” members of the old board would be retained in the new board.

Minister Coltart expressed concern that parents had lost faith in Zimsec as an examination institution, opting to register their children with the University of Cambridge.

“People have lost faith, thus as a ministry, we are focusing on restoring confidence and this could be done by fully revamping operations at the local examinations board,” he said.

Some schools have opted out of the local examination syndicate amid reports that in Bulawayo, schools scrapped Ndebele lessons in favour of Zulu, which is offered at Cambridge.

He said some members in the outgoing board were ineligible to hold positions at Zimsec according to Zimbabwean laws.

Standard
By Bertha Shoko
31 January 2010

CIVIL servants will hold make-or-break talks with government negotiators on Tuesday amid warnings a crippling strike is imminent. The meeting comes a week after the 14-day strike ultimatum issued by civil servants passed without any action.

Education Minister David Coltart and his Public Service counterpart Eliphas Mukonoweshuro failed to take the civil servants’ grievances to cabinet because it has not been sitting.

The government workers want their salaries increased four-fold from the current US$150 for the lowest paid civil servant.

Raymond Majongwe, the Progressive Teachers’ Union (PTUZ) secretary general said if Tuesday’s meeting of the National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) does not yield positive results teachers will down tools.

“We are pleading with government to show a bit of commitment when we meet on Tuesday,” he said.
Their members, he said, were growing impatient with the unending negotiations.

Coltart yesterday said in the various meetings he has held with the unions they expressed their unhappiness over government’s continued lavish spending when it says it cannot improve their salaries.

“Their concern has been the cost of local and foreign travel by cabinet and many other things so this has made them believe that there is money out there somewhere,” he said.

“They want everyone to tighten their belts because of the economic crisis.”

Coltart said he had also held discussions with Finance Minister Tendai Biti who has agreed to meet representatives of civil servants when he returns from the United States.

The minister will also brief cabinet when it resumes its meetings.

However, Mukonoweshuro appeared to pour cold water over Coltart’s optimism saying the government was just broke.

“What we have here is a case where there isn’t that financial fiscus space on the part of government,” he said.

“Civil servants will have to be a bit more patient while government looks into their concerns.”

Sunday Mail
31 January 2010
Sunday Mail Reporter

Parents wishing to enroll their children for kindergarten in Harare will have to think twice as it has emerged that pre-schools in the city are demanding as much as US$600 per term in fees.

A Sunday Mail survey last week revealed that the cost of pre-schooling is much higher than that of higher and tertiary education. First year students at the University of Zimbabwe are paying US$350 per semester while city colleges are charging about US$50 per month.

It emerged that most private pre-schools are charging between US$200 and US$600 per term on top of transport fees and groceries.

Sunderland pre-school in Belvedere requires a child to pay US$200 per month while Sunrise pre-school in Milton Park is asking for US$480 per term.

A primary or high school student attending a government school in high density areas pays between US$5 and US$20 per term.

The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart said most pre-schools were privately owned and did not have fees set for them by the Ministry.
Pre-schools are, however, registered and approved by the Ministry.

“There are no set fees for these private pre-schools, that is why they are charging high levies. Government pre-schools are quite affordable and we set reasonable fees for them.” he said.

“Once the Ministry approves a pre- school, the school enters into a contract with the parents under which they agree on certain fees,” said Sen. Coltart.
Those operating pre-schools are believed to be making a lot of money from the business and this accounts for the huge increase in the number of the schools over the past few years.

As a strategy to help parents, the Government has since introduced Grade Zero classes for pupils where they are taught creative skills.

A parent who spoke to The Sunday Mail last week, Mrs Tendai Chireru, said the majority of these kindergarten operators were charging exorbitant prices considering the age of the children.

“These operators are milking parents countrywide since they demand groceries and cash some of which I believe is diverted for personal use,” said Mrs Chireru.

A Harare based headmaster who spoke on condition of anonymity said parents were the ones to blame as they were choosing elitist kindergarten homes.

“Parents should bring their children to Government schools since we have the same qualified and experienced staff as those operating in private kindergarten homes,” he said.