Financial Gazette
Clemence Manyukwe
15 January 2010

Harare — As schools opened this week, the major preoccupation for most parents was the issue of exorbitant fees, the soaring cost of uniforms and strike threats by teachers over poor salaries.

These parents were however, oblivious of a new scourge pervading local learning institutions that can result in lasting mental and physical suffering to their children, according to education experts.

Recent reports indicate that violence at schools that is spiraling out of control — murder of students, sexual harassment, corporal punishment and bullying, which in some instances, has resulted in pupils/students being hospitalised.

In a Parliamentary debate of October 23 2009, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) Masvingo Urban Member of Parliament, Tongai Matutu, who is also a practicing lawyer, told the House of Assembly that, as a remedy, legislators should enact a law to prohibit corporal punishment in schools.

“I am saying this because over the weekend in Mwenezi constituency I heard a sad story of a headmaster who assaulted a schoolboy because he was found outside the school area… As I am speaking right now, the child is in hospital with serious brain damage,” Matutu said.

And in another shocking and fatal development, a Chinhoyi High School student, Moreblessing Musiiwa, died after he was allegedly struck with a cricket bat by the school’s sports director, Joseph Mpala, while caretaker, Lameck Katungunde, held him.

The High Court granted the two suspects bail two months ago.

In response to the violence, Plan International has mulled the “Learn without Fear” initiative to reduce or halt abuse at schools.

According to a study the organisation undertook last year, there is a prevalence of sexual violence in schools, which often goes unreported; corporal punishment by teachers and bullying by fellow schoolchildren among other rights abuses.

The study said 67 percent of children and 35 percent of teachers concurred that at one time or another corporal punishment is perpetrated by all teachers.

Researchers Fiona Leach, Pamela Machakanja and Jennifer Mandoga concluded that Zimbabwean schools have fostered an authoritarian culture where the behavior of teachers cannot be questioned, thereby entrenching the abuse of students.

“Male sexual aggression in schools appears to be institutionalised and considered as normal. Girls respond on the whole with resignation and passivity. Schools are themselves complicit in the abuse in that they fail to discipline perpetrators (whether pupils or teachers), deny that abuse exists, and foster an authoritarian culture where the behaviour of teachers cannot be questioned,” they said.

Justice for Children Trust, said although Zimbabwe ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on October 11 1990, corporal punishment still forms part of local statutes, but in neighbouring South Africa — which also subscribes to the same convention — it is now prohibited.

To expose the government’s attitude towards the convention, the Trust said the agreement has a five-year reporting period but Zimbabwe had done so only once and that was in 1995.

Away from the abuses but still on the violation of school children’s rights, the Youth Forum of Zimba-bwe, said the current exorbitant fees demanded by some institutions constitute discrimination against the poor in terms of accessing education.

Most private and trust schools are charging fees of between US$1 200 and US$2 000 for secondary schoolboarders per term while government schools are demanding US$850 for boarders at formerly Group A public schools.

Reports indicate that Dominican Convent Senior School is demanding about US$650 for day scholars per term while St Ignatius High School in Chis-hawasha and Che-gato High in Mbe-rengwa are charging about US$400 in boarding fees.

At most high density public secondary schools authorities are charging US$105 per term per child.

To the dismay of parents, cases of embezzlement of funds by school authorities since the adoption of multi-currencies last Feb-ruary have been on the rise prompting the police to arrest a number of headmasters or headmistresses including those based at Kuwadzana 4 Primary School in Harare, St Aug-ustines High School in Penhalonga and St David’s Bonda High School.

“Education continues to be both inaccessible and unaffordable…it’s clear that discrimination in accessing basic rights such as health and education is purely on monetary grounds, with the rich being able to access such rights,” the Youth Forum said in a statement.

On the other hand Justice for Children Trust, said although local laws and policies such as the Basic Education Assistance Module and the National Action Plan for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children provided social security, the welfare structures have been neglected and some of them have been rendered non-existent for the past six to 10 years due to lack of resources, poor management and unbalanced resource allocation, among other issues.

“The current Education Act provides that education is every child’s right and that primary education is compulsory and free of charge, however, this is not the case on the ground as scores of children are not attending primary school.

“The government has ‘scrapped’ or ‘reduced’ school fees but at the same time it allows school development associations and councils to charge unaffordable levies, which leaves lots of children unable to attend school,” the Trust said in a statement.

“Further to that, teachers in the schools are not being provided with adequate tools of their trade neither are they adequately motivated to do their work and this has curtailed children’s right to education, not to mention the unaffordable examination fees.”

Last year, Education Minister, David Coltart, said in some rural schools the student textbook ratio stood at 30:1 while in urban areas it was mostly at 20:1 or 15:1.
In its statement the Children’s Trust, said although the government believes it has made significant progress in addressing provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children the situation on the ground points to the contrary.

In terms of Article 7 of the Convention, every child has a right to a nationality, a name and a birth certificate — the latter — a requirement in writing public examination in the country.

“The country should seriously consider birth registration as it is the mainstay of any child’s future and the enjoyment of almost all the other rights.

“A lot of children do not have birth certificates due to factors that include lack of adequate resources at the Registrar’s General office, lack of civic education on the importance and requirements of registration, stringent requirements and lack of national identity documents and death certificates of the children’s parents,” the children’s organisation said.

“This is all despite the fact that the Birth and Death registration Act states that every child must be registered within six weeks of birth.

Eyewitness News
13 January 2010

Schooling in Zimbabwe did not get off to a good start on Wednesday when teachers refused to do their work because they did not receive pay hikes.

Teachers want their salaries quadrupled to take them past the poverty line but it does not seem as though they will get more than the R1 500 they received last year.
Education Minister David Coltart said he was not the one who fixed salaries.

Teachers and civil servants were angry when they heard production had massively increased in Zimbabwe and MPs had posh new cars while they got very little.

The Zimbabwean
Written by WOZA
Wednesday, 13 January 2010

WOZA and MOZA take to the streets of Bulawayo today to demand real schools with real teachers for a real education.

Over 800 members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise took to the streets of Bulawayo at midday today to peacefully protest about the state of education in Zimbabwe. Five groups started separately and converged on Mhlahlandlela Government complex to hand over the WOZA 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. Before they could hand over the report however, the peaceful group was dispersed by at least 12 police officers, including high-ranking officers. No arrests have been reported to date but WOZA leaders are still verifying whether everyone returned safely to their homes.

The theme of the protest was -‘real schools with real teachers for a real education’. Education has been a long-term mobilisation issue for WOZA. As the new school year begins, many members have reported that their children were turned away at the gates of schools yesterday on the first day of term.
Reasons given include account arrears and non-payment of the US$5 required for last year’s report card. One school even turned away children for non-payment of a ‘vandalising day’, a ZAR 10 contribution.

Given the general unhappiness of parents at the state of education in Zimbabwe, support for the peaceful march from bystanders was high.
Observers reported that many bystanders joined the group at Mhlahlandlela.

One man who joined the demonstration was overheard saying that he would be prepared to be arrested because the issue of education is so close to his heart. Uniformed police officers also asked members as they were dispersing why they had stopped singing and encouraged them to continue with their songs of protest. The songs included the words, “our children are crying for education”.

Attempts to hand in the report to the Regional Director for Education were unsuccessful as apparently the position in Matabeleland has not been filled.

Security guards at the gate of the government complex told the protestors to go to Harare and speak directly to the Minister of Education. Copies of the newsletter were left with the guards instead.

The demands included in the report include:

. Teachers must produce quality teaching and show that they are committed to the learning of all their pupils equally.

. Education authorities must utilise the vehicles that are being purchased to supervise teachers and demand more discipline in schools.

. Teachers must stop demanding top-ups from parents and the Ministry must prohibit this practice.

. The Ministry must work to produce a new and relevant curriculum as recommended above.

. Parents will do their best to pay reasonable fees set by Ministry and levies set by properly constituted and democratic parents meetings at the beginning of each year – we will not accept any fee or levy changes in 2010.

The full education report and the text of the newsletter can be found on the WOZA website.

Sydney Morning Herald
By Aaron Lawton
January 10, 2010

THE New Zealand cricket team is unlikely to tour Zimbabwe in June or July, but there’s a strong chance it will instead square off against the African nation at a neutral venue.

Originally, the tour was supposed to take place in 2009, but was put back a year after discussions between Zimbabwe Cricket’s chief executive, Ozias Bvute, and his counterpart at New Zealand Cricket, Justin Vaughan.

At the time, NZC and the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association raised concerns about cholera, water shortages and the standard of medical care in Zimbabwe, and it appears Vaughan is still not convinced those issues have been resolved.

While NZC is yet to make an official decision on a tour, Vaughan yesterday said he would like one “sooner rather than later”.

“With Zimbabwe, I’d really hope to have that nailed down inside the next six weeks,” he said.
If NZC remains uncomfortable with the situation in Zimbabwe, Vaughan has floated the possibility of the sides playing at a neutral venue, as was the case late last year when the Black Caps took on Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

New Zealand’s concern about medical facilities in Zimbabwe appears to have touched a raw nerve in Africa, with Zimbabwe’s sports minister, David Coltart, responding in Harare’s Independent newspaper.
“I think it’s unfortunate because while we don’t have a First World health system, we still have very good medical facilities in this country. Our private health system is excellent, and for those who can afford it service delivery is excellent,” he said.

“The cholera epidemic that affected our nation in 2008-09 is a thing of the past. I don’t believe there is any justification to use health grounds to stop a team from coming here.”

However, reports last week suggested Harare’s sewerage system had all but collapsed and raw sewage could potentially contaminate the city’s main water source.

Sunday News
10 January 2010
By Vusumuzi Dube and Bhekizulu Tshuma

SALARY negotiations between Government and representatives of Government workers including teachers are going on well and an announcement is imminent regarding the new pay structure for the civil service, a Cabinet minister has said.

In an interview ahead of the opening of schools last Tuesday, the Minister of Public Service, Professor Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, said the talks were going on well and an announcement would to be made soon on the new salary structure.

“As it is, we are still negotiating and there are no problems so far. As soon as the necessary deliberations are made and upon reaching an agreement we will then make an announcement on the agreed amounts of salaries,’’ he said by telephone from Harare.

Teachers, who earn US$150 per month, have demanded a review of their salaries but have ruled out a strike saying they want to give the negotiations a chance to yield the desired results.

The chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, Mr Sifiso Ndlovu, said they were not considering the option of a strike as negotiations were still ongoing with the Government on the issue of salaries.

“As an association we are negotiating in good faith with the Government on the issue of salaries and we will map a way forward only when the talks are completed,’’ said Mr Ndlovu.

The teachers, who number 90 000, are demanding US$600 per month and if Government accedes to their request, this would translate to more than US$55 million, which is half the country’s monthly total tax revenue.

Meanwhile, parents are set to continue providing incentives to teachers but school authorities have been advised to be cautious in the manner in which they draw up the incentives.

Incentives were introduced last year with parents required to pay teachers a certain amount to help boost their monthly earnings. However there were reports that some schools were abusing the facility by overcharging parents with some asking for as much as US$20 per month per child.

Parents and guardians appealed to the Government to urgently address the situation to bring an end to the issue as in most cases defaulters were being sent home or not allowed to attend classes.

In an interview, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said incentives were set to continue but Government had come up with a tighter legal framework to help manage school authorities.

Senator Coltart urged school authorities to involve parents in coming up with incentives to avoid abuse of the facility.

He said his ministry would ensure that school authorities complied with the stipulated regulations on incentives as most of them had in the past abused the system.
“What should be noted is that the country has stipulated regulations governing the issue of levies and our call to school authorities is for them to stick to those regulations,’’ said Senator Coltart.

The minister said they were working on reviewing the education laws of the country with the hope of making the collection of levies more transparent and accountable.
“Until such a time, school authorities must ensure that parents are engaged when drawing up incentives, notice of meetings should be made on time and the meetings should constitute a quorum of 20 percent,’’ the minister said.

He said Government in the long run was aiming at scrapping incentives as they had created inequalities in the education system as well as creating tension between teachers and parents but he noted that there was a danger that if they were cut off, there would be a massive exodus of the teaching staff.

In a related development, Zimta has reiterated that it does not want incentives as they are a simple excuse for them not to get reasonable salaries.
The Zimta CEO said it was high time the Government adopted a one off payment system for teachers.

“As teachers we are not happy about these incentives as they do not add up to our salaries, teachers need other allowances like medical, housing or transport and this should be urgently looked into,’’ Mr Ndlovu said.

He said incentives caused divisions among the teachers with those in rural areas getting less than their counter parts teaching at up market schools.

Sunday Mail
Editorial
10th January 2010

ON Tuesday, “it’s back to school” and after the chaos that has characterised the opening of schools in previous years, will all the parties concerned please ensure that this first school term in 2010 will be an enjoyable one for our innocent children.

Already we have heard very disturbing statements from the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, who last week told teacher representatives that “the best person to answer their questions (about salaries) would be the Finance Minister as he is the one who presented the budget”.

He went on to add that “I do not know what they would be getting as I am not the one who pays them”.

Since he took over as minister, Mr Coltart has been trying to improve the welfare of teachers, but his latest stance on salaries is misinformed. He is the minister responsible for the welfare of teachers and so he should get the answers from the Minister of Finance on behalf of the teachers.
Fortunately, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association and the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe have decided to ignore Mr Coltart’s attitude and are calling on all teachers to report for duty on Tuesday.

The two organisations have said they will only map the way forward after their meeting with Government, which is set for Tuesday.

It, however, boggles the mind why such an important meeting is scheduled for the very day that schools will be opening. Why not last week or some other day to give room for proper discussions?
Now teachers will report for duty on Tuesday not knowing what salaries they will be getting. This is poor planning on behalf of Minister Coltart and Minister Biti.

These two ministers should be held responsible if there are any disturbances to the schooling calendar this first term.

The PTUZ is already demanding a salary of nothing less than US$500 for teachers and is threatening to go on strike if that demand is not met. While we don’t agree with the confrontational approach by the union, we think the Government would have been in a better position to deal with contentious issues if the discussions were held during the school holidays.

Minister Coltart also made a statement that the payment of teacher incentives by parents will continue until Government is able to offer teachers viable salaries.

One gets the feeling that Government is now sitting on its laurels as parents bear the burden of paying the teachers. This is unfair because the parents are already overburdened.

To make matters worse, the payment of incentives to teachers by parents has seen the birth of stinking corruption in some schools. Also it is important to note that it is only the teachers in urban areas who are benefiting from this facility as parents in rural areas can’t afford to pay the incentives. What happens to teachers at schools in the rural and mining areas?

Of course, parents will pay the incentives so that teachers report for duty, but it is high time that Government came out with a sustainable solution to teachers’ salaries.

The inclusive Government has been praised in many quarters and this year school children should see the benefits of this Government through uninterrupted classes.

It was worrying to hear that last year’s Grade 7 results that were supposed to be released at the end of November or at the beginning of December, were only released last Friday.

Even more worrying are reports that the marking of Ordinary and Advanced level examinations only started last Monday. Reports say the marking will end on February 13 and results are expected to be released early March.

While the delays in the marking are understandable due to the numerous problems that Zimsec faced in 2009, the hope among many parents is that the education system will improve in 2010.

Just last week, there were reports that vendors had invaded the Harare city centre as some parents tried to raise school fees for their children. This is just how parents value the education of their children and we hope all the parties concerned are taking note.

Just yesterday, there were reports that some shops in Harare had raised prices of school uniforms and other school items claiming that manufacturers had hiked their prices.

The manufacturers denied this and we hope the retailers realise that most parents are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

As for the schools, we hope that the payment of incentives to teachers by parents will not be used as a window to enrich the headmasters and heads of the School Development Associations.

The Tuesday meeting between Government and the teacher representatives should be held with the school children in mind.

These school children are the future of this country and they deserve descent education. After all, it is their right!

Cricinfo
January 8, 2010

The Zimbabwean government has dismissed suggestions made by New Zealand Cricket that its tour later this year might be called off because of concerns over the health facilities in Zimbabwe.

NZC’s chief executive Justin Vaughan and New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association head Heath Mills both spoke out about the “the collapse of public heath system in the African nation” and warned without adequate facilities, the tour was unlikely to happen.

But Zimbabwe’s sports minister David Coltart told Harare’s Independent the New Zealanders had an obligation to visit. “I think it’s unfortunate because while we don’t have a first-world health system, we still have very good medical facilities in this country. Our private health system is excellent, and for those who can afford, service delivery is excellent.

“The cholera epidemic that affected our nation in 2008-09 is a thing of the past. It’s clear to me that … we are improving all the time. Ask people who travel to Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. I believe in many respects Zimbabwe is a far healthier environment. I don’t believe there is any justification to use health grounds to stop a team from coming here.”

However, Coltart’s optimism is not shared by those on the ground who report Harare’s sewage system has all but collapsed and claim raw sewage is now seeping into the city’s main water source, leading to fears of renewed cholera outbreaks. Last year, more than 4000 people died of the disease in Zimbabwe.

Coltart went on the state the political concerns which caused a planned tour in 2009 to be postponed no longer applied. “There’s still a long way to travel, but it’s an unrecognisable country compared to this time last year. There are fewer reports of human rights violations. It’s by no means perfect, but things have greatly improved.”

Zimbabwe Independent
By Faith Zaba
8th January 2010

Education minister David Coltart wants to set up 20 academic centres of excellence this year to cater for bright disadvantaged children who will receive full scholarships.

Coltart told the Zimbabwe Independent this week that two such centres would be established in each province with the best education facilities.

This, he said, would help bridge the gap between government education and elitist private education.

“We are looking at ways of catering for the disadvantaged children. If you are a bright kid, the danger is that you will never realise your talent,” Coltart said. “Only a few can afford non-government schools. We are developing a mechanism that will bridge that gap between government and the non-governmental education system.”

Coltart said there were local and British organisations that have expressed interest in funding the project, with the Chinese willing to take over one of the schools.

“We will establish one girls and one boys school in each province. We are targeting schools where we will channel money towards and rehabilitate and then identify the best teachers and heads in government for these academies. We will also establish a scholarship fund,” he said.

Coltart said the next phase would be to establish 20 primary academic centres in 2011 and then vocational centres for the non-academic students.

His long-term vision, Coltart said, would be to have an equal number of academic and vocational training centres in the country so that all differently gifted children would be taken care of.

His ministry has raised more than US$30 million for the Education Transition Fund, whose main funder is Unicef, and its first priority is the provision of textbooks in primary schools.

At the moment the textbook ratio at primary schools varies between 15 children to one and 36 children to one at rural schools and Coltart wants the ratio to go down to two children to one book.

Coltart said his ministry would this year buy more than nine million textbooks for primary schools.

He is still to get funding for textbooks for secondary schools.

On the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (Zimsec), Coltart admitted that it would take years before credibility of local examinations is restored.

“Zimsec was in a complete shambles when I took over. We have managed to restore a measure of financial viability to Zimsec, although exams were delayed. But it will take time before credibility is restored,” he said.

Zimbabwe Independent
By Enock Muchinjo
8th January 2010

Zimbabwe’s inclusive government has dismissed the New Zealand cricket board’s health fears which could, for the second time in as many years, prevent their team from touring here in July.
Reports in the international media last week said the New Zealanders are likely to pull out of their rescheduled tour of Zimbabwe following “the collapse of public heath system in the African nation”.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan and the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association boss Heath Mills expressed their concerns over the proposed trip, which they postponed last year on political and moral grounds.

This time around, the Kiwis have dropped the political concerns, apparently due to the reforms made by the inclusive government in which MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai is prime minister while his long-time rival Robert Mugabe remains president.

“Medical facilities are a concern. You can go to countries and protect yourself against infectious diseases and the like as long as you’ve got a decent standard of hygiene and healthcare services available to you,” Vaughan told New Zealand’s Sunday Stars-Times.

“We’re not in possession of all the facts quite yet, but it appears that (health) could be quite a significant concern. Certainly, NZC is non-negotiable on the matter of putting our team at risk at any time.”

In an interview with IndependentSport this week, Sports minister David Coltart allayed the fears, saying the New Zealanders had an obligation to help Zimbabwe cricket’s well-received rebuilding exercise.

“Well, I think it’s unfortunate if that’s the reason (for not touring) because while we don’t have a first-world health system, we still have very good medical facilities in this country. Our private health system is excellent, and for those who can afford, service delivery is excellent,” Coltart told IndependentSport.

“The cholera epidemic that affected our nation in 2008-09 is a thing of the past. It’s clear to me that under Dr (Henry) Madzorera (minister of Health) we are improving all the time.”

Coltart said even after a turbulent period in the country’s history, health-wise Zimbabwe still remained safer than most countries.

“Ask people who travel to Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and to an extent Pakistan. I believe in many respects Zimbabwe is a far healthier environment,” he said, adding:

“The ambassador of Australia, the country closest to New Zealand, is here and can testify. We have tens of thousands of foreign nationals living here. The Cosafa football tournament (late last year), in which we hosted 13 national teams, went without a hitch. We had the Bangladesh and Kenya cricket teams here without incidents. I don’t believe there is any justification to use health grounds to stop a team from coming here.”

Although the political situation in the country has improved, and concerns over security have largely been a smokescreen, Coltart made references to the issues.

“In the country there is still a long way to travel,” he said. “’But it’s an unrecognisable situation in the country compared to this time last year. There are fewer reports of human rights violations. It’s by no means perfect, but things have greatly improved.

“In terms of safety, this is one of the safest countries to play sport. We don’t have bombs exploding, and the crime rate is very low compared to South Africa. In terms of security, Zimbabwe is much safer than most Test playing nations.”

A spokesman for the New Zealand foreign ministry, Murray McCully, said a decision had not yet been made about the tour. Coltart will lobby the government to persuade the Blackcaps to tour.

“I will certainly take it up with my political counterparts in New Zealand. As for the New Zealand Cricket Board, my message to them is that Zimbabwe is a safe place and they are most welcome.”

Asked what attitude he expected from the New Zealand government, he said: “I don’t know, I don’t want to speculate, but I hope I will be given a sympathetic hearing.”

SW Radio Africa
By Lance Guma
8 January 2010

Teachers have threatened to go on strike if their salaries are not raised to US$600 per month from the current US$150. The President of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) Takavafira Zhou said their members would not turn up for work next week if they received no clarification on how much they will be earning. Ever since Finance Minister Tendai Biti presented his budget in December last year, there has been no word on how much teachers would earn.

Zhou said they had given the inclusive government enough time to work on their remuneration and expected their salaries to at least match the poverty datum line which he said was US$600. The school term begins next week on Tuesday but again like most school openings over the past years it is not clear whether the teachers will report for duty because of the pay dispute. Zhou said they had to issue the strike threat to ensure government dealt with their plight.

PTUZ Secretary General Raymond Majongwe slammed the government’s attitude ‘of behaving like Father Christmas and just give us the salaries they want to,’ without consulting them. ‘If we are the recipients of the salaries why should they be hidden from us,’ he added. He said they expected government to prove they were serious about the plight of teachers in the country. Majongwe said as government revenues rise, they expected an improvement in their working conditions.

The larger Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) has meanwhile said it is seeking a meeting with government officials next week. They want the issue of salaries, and the grading system that will also determine salary structures, to be clarified. Education Minister David Coltart is quoted as saying he did not know how much the teachers would be earning and referred questions on the matter to Finance Minister Biti.

Coltart meanwhile announced that he wants to set up 20 academic centres of excellence this year to cater for bright but disadvantaged children who will receive full scholarships. In an interview with the weekly Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, Coltart said that two centres would be established in each province and these will have the best education facilities. The idea he said was to bridge the gap between government and private education. Coltart also said he planned on setting up 20 primary academic centres in 2011 followed later by vocational centres for the non-academic students.

Responding to the scheme Majongwe said it was a noble idea but would not work if the Minister did not engage all the stakeholders. Several things had to be clarified, such as how the beneficiaries would be identified. He said so far none of the teaching unions had been consulted on the idea and how it would be implemented. Majongwe also said in the past such scholarship funds had been abused to benefit people aligned to certain politicians or political parties.