The Chronicle
Chronicle Reporter
20 January 2010

The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart will today meet the Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, to discuss the burning issue of teachers’ salaries.
Minister Coltart last week promised to table the issue of teachers’ salaries before Cabinet, which was expected to resume sitting yesterday.

However, Cabinet did not sit and according to Minister Coltart, its first meeting this year will be sometime in February.

This means that the first meeting of the Cabinet falls beyond the 14-day ultimatum that civil servants gave the Government on Wednesday to intervene on the issue of salaries.

Speaking in a telephone interview from Harare yesterday, Minister Coltart said he would discuss with Minister Biti grievances that were presented to him in a meeting with leaders of teachers’ associations on Thursday.

“I will discuss with Minister Biti the grievances that the leaders of the teachers’ associations presented to me regarding their salaries last Thursday,” he said.

Contacted for comment, the Apex Council chairperson, who is also the president of the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta), Mrs Tendai Chikowore, said they were still waiting for formal communication from Minister Coltart.

“I can not say what form of action we will take now because we have not heard anything from the Minister. We deal with official communication so until he convenes a meeting with us I can not comment,” she said.

Mrs Chikowore, however, said nothing had changed since civil servants gave the Government a 14-day ultimatum to address their grievances.
“After 14 days we will go back to the people to discuss the way forward,” she said.

This was after negotiations between the Government and the civil servants’ representatives ended in a stalemate on Tuesday.

The unions rejected US$236 per month offered by the Government for the highest paid civil servant and US$124 for the lowest paid.

The workers want their salaries to be raised to at least US$600 a month.

Teachers and the majority of civil servants are earning between US$155 and US$180 depending on one’s grade.

In a joint statement, the Apex Council, a body that includes Zimta, Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Public Service Association (PSA), said what the Government was offering was too little.

Zimbabwe Journalists.com
19 January 2010
By a Correspondent

Freelance photojournalist Andrison Manyere was on 18 January 2010 released without being charged following his arrest and detention at Harare Central Police Station while covering a march by members of the Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise pressure groups.

Dzimbabwe Chimbga of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights confirmed Manyere’s release together with Comfort Nyakura, and Tabeth Chatanda.

Chimbga said the police had failed to establish any reasonable suspicions that three had committed an offence. The police wanted to hinge their case against Manyere on the grounds that he did not have an accreditation card.

This was, however, countered by the fact that the accrediting authority – the statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) is still to be established.

Manyere was arrested while filming a demonstration by the Members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise who marched to the Ministry of Education in Harare around noon on 18 January 2009 to hand over their report on the education system in Zimbabwe entitled – Looking Back to look Forward. The report contains recommendations and a list of demands that parents wanted addressed by the Minister of Education Senator David Coltart.

Manyere is also currently on bail in a separate matter in which he is being charged together with six other alleged MDC activists under Section 23 (1), (2) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act which criminalises acts of insurgence, banditry, sabotage or terrorism.

SW Radio Africa
By Gerry Jackson
19th January 2010

Thabita Taona, who was arrested Monday during a peaceful WOZA demonstration, will spend another night in Harare Central Police Station as an investigating officer has not been assigned to the case. Until this happens charges cannot be formally brought against her.

Police have been engaged in their normal delaying tactics but she has seen her lawyer and has received the food brought to her. WOZA report that Thabita has also been ‘extensively interrogated’ about who else was in the demonstration with her.

A WOZA statement says: ‘The man caught ‘in the cross-fire’, Comfort Nyakura, was released last night (Monday) after his employer confirmed that he had been at work at the time of the demonstration and was merely on his lunch break’.

Freelance journalist Shadreck Manyere was the third person arrested Monday, but he was not held for long.

Members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise were protesting the exorbitant school fees and the destruction of the education sector and had tried to present a report on the failing education system to Minister David Coltart. Their report contains recommendations and a list of demands from parents, but riot police disrupted the demonstration.

Radio VOP
18th January 2010

Harare. Three members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) including a journalist were on Monday arrested in Harare after marching to the Ministry of Education to hand over their report on the education system in Zimbabwe entitled – Looking Back to look Forward.

The report covers recommendations and a list of demands that parents want addressed by the Minister of Education, Senator David Coltart.

“Police interrupted the peaceful demonstration, arresting three people, a woman and two men. One of the men is an accredited journalist that was covering the march. It is possible that there may be more arrests however as at the time of this release, riot police were still actively stopping any group of people walking together in central Harare and interrogating them,” said a statement by WOZA.

“As is standard WOZA practice, three separate demonstrations started simultaneously and converged on the Ministry of Education offices. Two of the groups, approximately 250 people, managed to reach the Ministry offices; the third demonstration was broken up by riot police before it could arrive at the Ministry. It is still unclear how many people, if any, were arrested during this process.”

“On arrival at the Ministry, a small delegation went to meet with the Minister, Senator David Coltart, to give him a copy of the report. Before he could come downstairs to address the peaceful group outside, a truckload of riot police arrived, beating their baton sticks on their shields. The journalist and the man were arrested at this point and the rest of the group dispersed. The woman who is currently under arrest was arrested near Parliament, over a block away from the Ministry of Education,” continued the statement.

Lawyers had been informed and were expected to go to Harare central Police Station.

Teachers have threatened a strike, with some having been on go-slow last week. They are demanding a salary increase of USD 600. The government says it is in the red and cannot afford such salaries.

SW Radio Africa
By Violet Gonda
18 January 2010

Freelance photo-journalist Shadreck Andrison Manyere, plus two other people, were arrested in Harare on Monday after police broke up a peaceful demonstration organised by the pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise. WOZA was protesting against exorbitant school fees and the crumbling education sector.

Previously Manyere was among a group of individuals, including activists and civic leaders, abducted from their homes by state agents in 2008. The political detainees spent several months in detention on charges of plotting to destabilise the former ZANU PF government. He is currently out on bail together with six other co-accused, including MDC officials Ghandi Mudzingwa and Chris Dhlamini.

This time around, the photo-journalist is being accused of filming the WOZA demonstration. The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said in a statement: “The police are also accusing Comfort Nyakura, who is employed by Jameson Hotel, of taking pictures using his mobile phone during the demonstration, while Tabeth Chatanda, who claimed to have been on her way to Parirenyatwa Hospital is accused of taking part in the demonstration.”

Members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise had marched to the Ministry of Education to deliver their report on the failing education system in Zimbabwe entitled: Looking Back to look Forward.

Such is the level of decay in education even the state controlled Sunday Mail had no choice but to report that rural schools recorded a zero percent pass rate for Grade Seven exams. It is not known how the bankrupt government is going to achieve the mammoth task of resuscitating what used to be one of the best education systems in Africa.

WOZA says it wanted to present the report on the crisis in the education sector (containing recommendations and a list of demands from parents) to Education Minister David Coltart, but riot police disrupted the demonstration. The pressure group said: “On arrival at the Ministry a small delegation went to meet with the Minister Senator David Coltart, to give him a copy of the report. Before he could come downstairs to address the peaceful group outside, a truckload of riot police arrived, beating their baton sticks on their shields. The journalist and the man were arrested at this point and the rest of the group dispersed. The woman who is currently under arrest was arrested near parliament, over a block away from the Ministry of Education.”

The media watchdog, MISA-Zimbabwe, said the disturbing development ‘comes barely three days after a senior freelance journalist Stanley Kwenda fled the country after he was allegedly phoned and threatened with death by a senior police officer’. It is reported the journalist fled the country after he was called on his mobile by the police officer, over a story published in The Zimbabwean newspaper.

The arrests and intimidation of journalists and activists are in gross violation of the Global Political Agreement signed in September 2008 by ZANU PF and the MDC formations, which guarantees freedom of assembly and association, and all parties also promised to provide a free media environment.

Kumbirai Mafunda, the communications officer for Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, told SW Radio Africa that like most media practitioners in Zimbabwe, photo-journalist Manyere holds expired accreditation, issued by the now defunct Tafataona Mahoso led, Media and Information Commission. The MIC fell away with the signing of the GPA in 2008 and it has taken well over a year to appoint the Zimbabwe Media Commission to replace it. The list of commissioners was only confirmed on 22nd December 2009 and they are still to be sworn in. Nonetheless Mafunda said the police were asking Manyere why he was moving around with an expired card, even though the new accreditation process has not started and journalists have no option.

A WOZA statement issued late Monday said Manyere had been released with a caution, but the other two will spend the night in police custody at Harare Central Police Station. The group said it is unclear what the two will be charged with.

In other news, the terrorism trial of MDC Treasurer General Roy Bennett continued in the High Court on Monday, where the prosecution is making moves to impeach its own key witness, Peter Michael Hitschmann, for allegedly making contradicting statements. Hitschmann is saying there are no inconsistencies as he was tortured into implicating the MDC official. High Court Judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu deferred a ruling on the matter to Thursday.

The Zimbabwean
Written by Natasha Hove
Monday, 18 January

Education Minister, David Coltart, has referred the issue of teachers’ salaries to the country’s Cabinet to avert strike action.

Coltart told The Zimbabwean that he was referring the issue to Cabinet when it resumed sitting today to avoid strike action that would cripple the education sector. “We cannot afford to have another industrial action at a time when we are still trying to revive our education sector. 2010 cannot be another wasted academic year,” said Coltart.

Teacher unions, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) last week dismissed the government’s wage increase to US$230 as inadequate and paltry. Teachers and other civil servants are currently earning salaries ranging between US$150 and US$180 depending on grade, yet the poverty datum line stands at US$495

Sunday News
17 January 2010
Sunday News Reporters

SOME schools are reportedly turning away children for not paying school fees in contravention of a Government directive.

A survey conducted by the Sunday News around Bulawayo last week revealed that some children were loitering outside school premises while others were in class.
Parents and guardians said they were failing to raise the fees because they alleged school authorities were, in some cases, charging way above Government stipulated fees.

Early this month, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Senator David Coltart announced that Government would not be increasing tuition fees.
He said this came after the realisation that most parents failed to pay fees last year.

Government last year proposed that primary schoolchildren pay US$5 while those at secondary were to pay US$10 per term.

Children attending primary schools in low-density suburbs are expected to pay US$10 while those at secondary level fork out US$20 per term.

Nkulumane Primary in Mpopoma is reportedly charging fees ranging between US$5 and US$45, amounts that have sparked anger among parents who are now confused as they are no longer sure of the correct amount.

“I was shocked to see my child returning in the morning from school on opening day telling me that she had to pay US$35 for fees yet last year we were paying US$5 which was gazetted by Government,’’ said one parent.

A concerned Mahatshula resident told this paper that he was driving to his home from the city centre when he saw a young boy in school uniform, walking alone along the railway line, sucking his fore finger.

“I was driving to my place at around 11am when I saw the boy walking alone crossing the railway line. He looked so vulnerable, sucking his tiny finger and what puzzled me was I could not see anyone accompanying him. I stopped my car and asked the boy where he was going alone. He told me he had been turned away from school. I thought to myself what calibre of teachers do we have in society if they can send a young boy home without any patron. If I was not a good man I would have kidnapped him,’’ he said.

Minister Coltart said the law and policy regarding fees had not changed.

“Let me restate the law, no school shall turn away pupils for failing to pay fees. That does not change,’’ he said.

Senator Coltart advised that parents should report to their respective provincial education directors, any schools that turned away students for failing to pay fees.
He, however, said the ministry would not take action against any school authority based on reports in the Press.

“Parents should report schools to the responsible authorities then the ministry can take action. At the moment I have not received any complaints as yet,’’ said the education minister.

Senator Coltart also urged parents to make sure that their children go to school because some skip school.

In a recent development, a school head who declined to be named for fear of victimisation, said his school had received a circular from the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA) stating that teachers were not “happy’’ with the recent salary negotiations and the association was requesting teachers to be on go-slow.
However, ZIMTA president, Mrs Tendai Chikowore said the association never sent out such a circular.

“We did not issue out anything of the sort. Teachers will continue going to work until we get feedback from the Government,’’ she said.

The ZIMTA president said they would wait for the 14 days they agreed to with the Government, to elapse.

Mahatshula Primary School headmaster, Mr Mankani Moyo, said his school had not turned away children for not paying fees.

He said children have a habit of bunking school otherwise the school is teaching everyone.

“We have not even discussed the fee structure for the term. Normally we encourage parents to make arrangements with the school on how they would pay the fees,’’ said the school head.

The headmaster of Milton High, Mr Misheck Ngwenya, said the school had not turned away any students.

“Students are paying as they come, we allow them to pay in instalments,’’ he said. However, he encouraged parents to pay outstanding fees so that the school can operate. He said most parents and guardians could not afford to pay the required fees.

The deputy provincial education director for Bulawayo, Mr Reuben Ndlovu, said schools were told in a meeting held with their respective District Education Officers (DEOs) that they should abide by the Government directive.

Parents urged the ministry to urgently intervene in the matter to prevent a repetition of last year’s situation.

The Herald
By Felex Share
15 January 2010

Harare — Education, Sport, Art and Culture Minister David Coltart yesterday urged all concerned authorities in Government to put their heads together and urgently solve the salary dispute before the 14-day notice for industrial action given by civil servants expires.

This comes after negotiations between civil servants and their employer ended in a deadlock on Tuesday after Government rejected demands for a minimum salary of US$600 per month. Government said it was prepared to give the lowest paid worker US$122, while the highest paid employee gets US$236.

Housing and transport allowances are not included, prompting the civil servants to give their employer a 14-day ultimatum to meet their demands.

In an interview after meeting teachers’ unions yesterday, Minister Coltart said there was an urgent need for Government to solve civil servants’ grievances if the country’s economy was to continue recovering.

He urged all teachers to continue reporting for duty, assuring them he would be meeting Finance Minister Tendai Biti next Tuesday to deliberate on the matter.
The Minister pledged to take the matter to Cabinet next week and promised to meet teachers unions on January 26 for feedback, two days before the expiry of the ultimatum.

“Our economy has been showing great signs of recovery and if we don’t act swiftly, we will go back to zero. I am calling upon all my colleagues in Cabinet to put heads together for the development of the nation,” said Minister Coltart.

He challenged Government to act on its parastatals, which he said, were chewing up most of the civil servants’ and other workers’ salaries by charging astronomical rates and fees.

“Government must find a way of making these parastatals like Zesa, TelOne, city councils charge normal bills not what we are seeing at the moment. You find bills exceeding US$800 and where will that kind of money come from?” he said.

Minister Coltart reiterated that while he understood the plight of the teachers and the rest of the civil service, there was need for them to be patriotic for the benefit of the children, who were victims of the economic crisis.

“I urge the teachers to report for duty in the next weeks as we try by all means to work out a favourable plan for them. We know they have suffered for long and we will run around to solve this,” he said.

On payment of incentives to teachers by parents, Minister Coltart said while Government devised a method to scrap them, his Ministry would set up an Interim Policy Advisory Committee involving the teachers’ unions.

He said the committee would work with teams from his Ministry and parents to make sure guidelines were followed and the facility was not abused.
Teachers’ unions urged all their members to report for duty and confirmed they had a productive meeting with Minister Coltart.

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Mr Raymond Majongwe, encouraged his members to take up classes at least for the stipulated two weeks.
“We are saying to our members we have suffered for too long, but let us just sacrifice for two weeks and wait and see what they will offer. If they fail to meet our demands then we would embark on a massive industrial action,” said Mr Majongwe.

A Zimta official echoed the same sentiments saying not reporting for duty before the ultimatum elapsed would be equal to predetermining Government’s response.

Zimbabwe Independent
Nqobile Bhebhe
15 January 2010

Faced with a critical shortage of lecturers at learning institutions, government is set to increase the retirement age of lecturers to 70 in a desperate bid to retain staff. Currently, the retirement age is pegged at 65.

A new five-year economic blueprint, the Medium Term Plan (MTP), indicates that the education sector is in distress and needs urgent revival.

Part of the policy measures to save the sector from collapse includes the scaling up of retirement age for lecturers.

The MTP reads: “Move the retirement age of lecturers to 70 years and involve retired lecturers on a flexi-time basis whenever they are required.”

Education is one of the sectors greatly affected by the brain drain as qualified personal have migrated to neighbouring countries in pursuit of greener pastures.

According to MTP, as of May last year the University of Zimbabwe had an establishment of 1 171 but only 385 posts were occupied leaving 786 vacancies while National University Of Science and Technology had a staff complement of 232 against 493 required.

Bindura, Lupane, Great Zimbabwe, Midlands State University and Harare Institute of Technology had a combined shortfall of 615 lecturers.

All polytechnics countrywide had a combined workforce of 1 043 workers against a requirement of 2 630 while teachers colleges had 803 staff but 1 348 where needed.

Apart from workers migrating, the document also attributes staff shortages to high HIV and Aids prevalence, deteriorating educational infrastructure and equipment at institutions, prohibitive distances, especially in newly resettled areas coupled with poor remuneration and working conditions.

Government has also set ambitious targets to be achieved by 2015.

It plans to “reduce teacher-pupil ratio at primary schools from 1:35 to 1:28 by 2015, reduce textbook-pupil ratio at primary school from 1:8 to 1:1 by 2015 and increase literacy rate from 88,4% to 98% by 2015.”

Education minister David Coltart last year appealed to the private sector to partner the inclusive government in its efforts to revive the sector as there was a shocking shortage of study materials, with some schools only equipped with one textbook per class in any given subject.

He revealed that at rural schools the ratio of students sharing textbooks is 1:30 while in urban areas it is mostly 1:15. Under the 2010 national budget, education was allocated $13,8 million for teaching materials, $28,15 million for cooperating partners (to be administered by Unicef), and $1,32 million for vehicles for education inspectors.

Parliament’s Education, Sports and Culture Portfolio Committee last December submitted a report expressing concern on the budget allocation saying “the amount allocated to the Education ministry falls far too short of the minimum required to enable the ministry to discharge its mandate at the most basic level”.
Government is also worried with the high rate of females dropping out of school.

“In 2006 a total of 30 359 primary school pupils dropped out of school while at secondary school a total of 21 190 dropped out of school of whom 51% were female” the committee says.

Financial Gazette
Njabulo Ncube
15 January 2010

Harare — The coalition government, grappling with a tight financial squeeze, called a crisis meeting with representatives of the country’s civil servants yesterday after union leaders rejected its offer and proceeded to issue a 14-day ultimatum to press for better pay and improved working conditions.

Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, Public Service Minister, Elphas Mukonoweshuro and Education Minister, David Coltart, convened the crisis meeting with the representatives from the Public Service Association (PSA), the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) and the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) to cool the volatile situation threatening the inclusive government’s economic recovery efforts.

Details of the indaba were not immediately available at the time of going to press.

But in a rare show of unity among the unions representing the country’s civil servants, PSA, ZIMTA and PTUZ called a joint press conference yesterday where they all rejected a government offer to pay the highest public worker US$236 a month.

Previously, the three unions had engaged the government separately, rendering their lobby for improved salaries ineffective.

Yesterday, the representatives of the civil servants told journalists that their membership was “dismayed” by the government offer made during the National Joint Negotiating Council on Tuesday.

They noted that their employer was silent on housing and transport allowances, at a time when rentals, rates and transport costs were accounting for the bulk of their monthly expenditure. “The civil servants in Zimbabwe, comprising educators and the rest of the civil servants, registered their displeasure and utter dismay at the paltry offer the government put forward on January 12 at the negotiating table for the 2010 salary review,” Tendai Chikowore, the ZIMTA president, said.

“The offer is inadequate, ridiculous and out of sync with the cost of living and therefore unacceptable. Civil servants therefore warn the government that its stance is a recipe for industrial disharmony likely to frustrate economic recovery,” she added.

The least paid civil servants, among them teachers, earn US$155 per month.

The unity government is technically insolvent due to revenue constraints and has been pleading with its employees to understand its precarious situation.

Appeals to international financiers for balance of payments support have drawn blanks as potential donors have insisted on the full implementation of the power-sharing pact signed in 2008 between the country’s key political actors.

At its inception in February 2009, the government paid all civil servants an allowance of US$100 a month. The allowances were later changed to a monthly salary averaging US$155.

In terms of the government offer, salaries in certain grades would have increased by between US$7 and US$21.

The highest paid civil servant, a permanent secretary in Grade E5, would have seen his or her monthly salary increasing from US$185 to US$236 against a Poverty Datum Line estimated at about US$500.

But the civil servants are adamant that they would want the least paid government worker to earn US$630, comprising of a basic entry salary of US$460, a housing allowance of US$120 and a transport allowance of US$50.

They also want the re-introduction of a rural allowance to be pegged at 20 percent of one’s monthly salary.

“Government should be warned that civil servants may deliver half-baked services that may ultimately compromise government processes.

“Meanwhile, we are giving the leadership of this country 14 days to intervene on this issue as a matter of urgency before it blossoms into conflict,” said Chikowore.

Takavafira Zhou, the president of PTUZ, and Cecilia Alexander, the president of PSA, endorsed the statement read by Chikowore.

“It’s an insult to civil servants. The government offer is unacceptable,” said Zhou.

Alexander, whose association represents the bulk of the civil servants, concurred.

“Our members are suffering. We are failing to send our children to school and to pay rent.

“If the government does not take us seriously, we are going to take action, which it is going to regret,” said Alexander.