The Herald
By Felex Share
25 November 2009

Harare — Government has no money to pay teachers invigilating this year’s Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations and is urging the educators to make sacrifices for their students, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart said yesterday.

It also emerged that many schools in remote parts of the country might fail to engage any examination supervisors because they were manned by relief teachers, whose contracts expire on December 4, while examinations will run until December 18.

Addressing teachers in Harare yesterday, Minister Coltart urged them to have developmental minds aimed at nurturing their students.

“At the moment, there is nothing we can offer you. As you all know, we have been trying to stabilise Zimsec (Zimbabwe School Examinations Council) and that is where most of the funds have been going.

“You have to just sacrifice yourselves and act in the interest of the children who have suffered for quite a long time,” said Minister Coltart.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe last year chipped in and paid invigilators allowances for them to supervise the writing of examinations.

The majority of them thought the trend would continue this year.

Minister Coltart said he would act “fast” to ensure that relief teachers in remote areas in the country had their contracts reviewed.

Last week, the teachers – through their representatives – wrote to their parent ministry threatening to boycott invigilating examinations if no allowances were paid.

Teachers’ unions said their members wanted compensation for the 14 “extra days” they would be working, as schools would close on December 4.

However, the teachers’ unions expressed mixed feelings over the Government’s position yesterday, with only the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe saying it would mobilise its members to undertake the national duty.

“For the benefit of the students, our members must report for invigilation while negotiations continue.

“We will engage the Government to add extra leave days to all those who will be invigilating,” said PTUZ secretary-general Mr Raymond Majongwe. He added that they would have wanted the Government to pay each teacher US$3 for each paper supervised.

However, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association and the Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, yesterday warned Government that their members would “obviously” want to use the holiday time to look for part-time jobs to supplement their “meagre” salaries.

“We have already made our holiday plans for the period after December 4 and therefore we will not invigilate without compensation,” said a Zimta official who declined to be named.

A TUZ official urged the Government and Zimsec to act swiftly for the benefit of the pupils “who did nothing to contribute to the exam crisis in this country”.

Zimsec officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Last week, the examinations body heaped the blame on the ministry for extending the examination registration deadline that had created these administration bottlenecks.
This year’s examination preparations have already been thrown into turmoil with thousands of prospective candidates failing to register owing to “exorbitant” fees.

This week, most schools around Zimbabwe confirmed that they were yet to receive statements of entry from Zimsec.

However, Zimsec dismissed the claims.

Ordinary and Advanced Level exams are set to begin tomorrow and Friday respectively while the last papers would be written on December 18.

SW Radio Africa
By Lance Guma
23 November 2009

Attempts by Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro to carry out an audit of the country’s civil service are already being frustrated by elements within ZANU PF. Last week Wednesday the Minister held a press conference to announce a physical count of all state employees in order to weed out ghost workers and those earning multiple salaries.

A pilot audit was also started that same week from Monday to Thursday but sources told Newsreel the Public Service Commission (PSC) led by Mariyawanda Nzuwah and most of the Permanent Secretaries in the various Ministries are refusing to cooperate and supply information. The state owned Herald newspaper as usual was used to give the excuse that the PSC had foiled an attempt by the Minister to release the personal information of state employees to the World Bank.

But Mukonoweshuro rubbished the allegations, saying the World Bank were only bankrolling the audit but did not require any names. With the Minister wanting a Payroll and Skills Audit there has been speculation ZANU PF is trying to shield the many thousands of loyal supporters and militia it stuffed into the civil service and who do not have the requisite qualifications.

In February Education Minister David Coltart gave some indication of the enormity of the problem. He told journalists they had paid out salaries to around 94 000 teachers but the teachers unions said their members were slightly over 60 000. This raised the possibility of over 30 000 ghost teachers on the payroll.

A private consultancy firm CGI Consultancy Auditors have been hired to carry out the audit from the 23rd of November to the 18th of December. Mukonoweshuro probably anticipated the resistance from some within ZANU PF and this is why it’s thought he is insisting, ‘we are not going to do a paper or file audit. We want to see the civil servants physically.’

VOA
By Ntungamili Nkomo
Washington 23 November 2009

Negotiators from Zimbabwe’s three unity government partners opened talks Monday on resolving a number of lingering and troublesome issues as was urged by Southern African regional leaders earlier this month.

But political sources in Harare said the atmosphere was tense amid recriminations over delays in meeting the early December deadline set by the Southern African Development Community’s troika on politics.

Even the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change, aligned on many but not all issues, were trading accusations of foot-dragging since the troika meeting was held in Mozambique on Nov. 5.

Political sources said the issues heading the agenda were the leadership of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Office of the Attorney General, and the delay in swearing in MDC provincial governors.
The same sources said that the negotiators also reviewed recommendations by the SADC troika which visited Zimbabwe late last month, including the re-assignment of the controversial central bank chief, Gideon Gono.
While there has been little visible progress, sources said it has been agreed that MDC ambassadors should be put in place by next month.

Senator David Coltart of the MDC formation led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara told VOA Studio 7 reporter Ntungamili Nkomo that harsh exchanges between the two formations of the former opposition are unfortunate. But he said he hoped the latest talks will end such bickerring.

Commenting, Nicole Fritz of the Southern African Litigation Center and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa said SADC leaders must take a tougher line with Harare to obtain substantial results.
Elsewhere, Parliament’s select committee on constitutional reform reported Monday that public consultations on redrafting the basic document have been postponed again until January to accommodate the ZANU-PF congress slated for mid-December. Correspondent Irwin Chifera reported from Harare.

And in Harare High Court, the chief investigator in the terrorism trial of Tsvangirai MDC treasurer Roy Bennett, a member of the Senated, testified that police have not completed their investigations though the trial is in course.
Under cross-examination, investigator Sipho James Makone told the court that the state was still waiting for a report from a bank in Mozambique to prove that Bennett deposited funds into an account held by the state’s star witness Peter Hichsman for the purchase of illegal arms, as Thomas Chiripasi reported.

Zimbabwe Metro
By Raymond Mhaka
November 23rd, 2009

Attempts by Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro to carry out an audit of the country’s civil service are already being frustrated by elements within ZANU PF. Last week Wednesday the Minister held a press conference to announce a physical count of all state employees in order to weed out ghost workers and those earning multiple salaries.

A pilot audit was also started that same week from Monday to Thursday but sources told Newsreel the Public Service Commission (PSC) led by Mariyawanda Nzuwah and most of the Permanent Secretaries in the various Ministries are refusing to cooperate and supply information. The state owned Herald newspaper as usual was used to give the excuse that the PSC had foiled an attempt by the Minister to release the personal information of state employees to the World Bank.

But Mukonoweshuro rubbished the allegations, saying the World Bank were only bankrolling the audit but did not require any names. With the Minister wanting a Payroll and Skills Audit there has been speculation ZANU PF is trying to shield the many thousands of loyal supporters and militia it stuffed into the civil service and who do not have the requisite qualifications.

In February Education Minister David Coltart gave some indication of the enormity of the problem. He told journalists they had paid out salaries to around 94 000 teachers but the teachers unions said their members were slightly over 60 000. This raised the possibility of over 30 000 ghost teachers on the payroll.

A private consultancy firm CGI Consultancy Auditors have been hired to carry out the audit from the 23rd of November to the 18th of December. Mukonoweshuro probably anticipated the resistance from some within ZANU PF and this is why it’s thought he is insisting, ‘we are not going to do a paper or file audit. We want to see the civil servants physically.’

Sunday News
22nd November 2009
By Vusumuzi Dube

GOVERNMENT has given itself two years to fully revamp the operation of the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) amid reports that some schools are now shifting to Cambridge examinations.

Zimsec has in the past years been locked in controversy over the manner in which it administers examinations in the country with most parents gradually losing confidence and preferring to shift back to the Cambridge Examination Board.

Analysts have lambasted the examination body for largely contributing to the demise of the education system in the country.

The build-up to this year’s November examinations was marked by delays in announcing examination fees, commencement of the examinations and even threats by teachers to boycott invigilation.

Many schools appear poised to shift to Cambridge next year unless the situation at Zimsec improves. Some of those schools that are planning to switch to Cambridge have since scrapped the teaching of Ndebele replacing it with Zulu that is offered by the UK based examination body.

Cambridge Examination Board is charging an average of US$40 per subject for Ordinary Level while an Advanced Level examination is pegged at US$70.
Zimsec is charging US$10 and US$20 for Ordinary and Advanced Levels respectively.

When contacted for comment the public relations manager for Zimsec, Mr Ezekiel Pasipamire, said the move by parents was not going to affect their operations as they were mandated by an Act of Parliament to administer examinations in the country.

“We are not panicking but we will strive to fulfil our mandate of administering public exams in the country. we might be facing challenges but every organisation has its shortcomings,” he said.

In a separate interview, the Minister of Education, Sports, Art and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said it was worrying that most parents were losing faith in the examination body and Zimsec had to work hard to regain their confidence.

“We acknowledge that parents have lost faith in Zimsec thus as a ministry we are focusing on restoring confidence and this could be done by fully revamping operations at the examination body,” said Sen Coltart.

However the minister said the process was going to take sometime as the examination body was in a sorry state.

“We are not underestimating the job ahead so we are giving ourselves about two years to bring back Zimsec to the state it once was,” he said.

Sen Coltart said his ministry would ensure that Zimsec becomes efficient by employing technical experts and boosting the resources to help improve the management of examinations in the country.

“As we speak we recently bought 14 vehicles for them (Zimsec), this adding on to the fact that this year we engaged a reputable company in South Africa to print the examination papers, all this is to help improve operations,” he said.

On the threat by teachers to boycott the invigilation of examinations this year, Sen Coltart said he was in the process of engaging teachers’ trade unions with the hope of persuading them not to further jeopardize this year’s examination process.

“As a ministry one of our major challenges is that of lack of money and this affects the teachers but for the interest of the children we appeal to the teachers to be more patient and not jeopardise this year’s examination process,” he said.

Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations are set to start on 26 and 27 November this year with the last paper being written on 18 December.

Last week teachers’ unions said their members wanted compensation for the 15 “extra days” they would be working as schools would have closed on 4 December.

Sunday News
By Lulu Brenda Harris
22nd November 2009

EFFORTS to revive the education sector in the country have received a boost from Zimbabweans based in the United Kingdom who have teamed up to set up a network to mobilise resources for the sector.

The Zimbabwe Teachers Network was officially launched yesterday in Birmingham, United Kingdom, with a concert aimed at raising funds to send books to schools in Zimbabwe.

In an e-mail interview with Sunday News, one of the conveners of the network, Ms Munashe Moyo-Godo, said they have so far managed to collect a lot of books that would be donated to a number of schools in the country.

“We have been lucky to get a good response from schools in the UK, so we are raising funds to ship the books. We hope to raise enough money to ship the first consignment of text and library books we currently have. If we are able to get enough money then we will also be able to ship some computers as well,” she said.
Ms Moyo-Godo said the concert featured Zimbabwean musicians among them dub poet, Albert Nyathi, Jusa Demento, Primrose Urombo, Simbarashe Mudzingwa of Hohodza fame, Enos Deve and FOF Praise Afro Face.

The Zimbabwe Teachers Network also held a fashion show supported by the Miss Malaika Beauty Peagent.

“It was an evening of great fun as we support this worthy cause. We are also looking to start a project to roof a classroom block at the school we are currently working with,” Ms Moyo-Godo said.

Ms Moyo-Godo is a University of Zimbabwe trained teacher and teaches and marks Cambridge examinations in the UK.

Her fellow organiser, Mrs Barbara Nyagomo-Mambo is a trained nurse and businesswoman. She is Southern African’s Achievers Awards UK 2009 businesswoman of the year.

Ms Moyo-Godo said other Zimbabweans in the Diaspora have also joined them in their efforts. “We have recently been joined by two goodwill ambassadors, both young Zimbabweans passionate about improving the situation in schools in Zimbabwe,” she said.

Ms Godo-Moyo said the goodwill ambassadors would be holding events to raise funds.

“At the moment plans are also underway to begin a big fundraising project, which I am not at liberty to discuss the details of at this time. We are currently working on a business workshop scheduled for mid-2010; this will also help raise funds. We are also looking at doing appeals,” she said. Ms Moyo-Godo said besides fundraising, it would be necessary to network teachers in Zimbabwe with teachers in other parts of the world in an effort to encourage the exchange of ideas.
“The same should happen with students as well. Linking schools in Zimbabwe with schools in other parts of the world will also encourage the sharing of information. We have launched a platform, called Zimteachnet,” she said.

Ms Moyo-Godo said the Zimbabwe Teachers Network is an organisation dedicated to enabling a productive education system in disadvantaged Zimbabwean schools.
“We aim to produce a capable, innovative and self reliant future generation,” she said.

Ms Moyo-Godo said the name of the group does not limit the network to teachers as it has people who are concerned about the disadvantaged school children.
“The name Zimbabwe Teachers Network does not confine it to just teachers, it is a network of people who are concerned about the plight of Zimbabwean children and want to do something about it. The future of so many children is at stake,” said the co-ordinator.

In an interview with Sunday News, the Minister of Education, Sports, Art and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said he was aware of international organisations that wanted to help revive the education sector and encouraged such efforts.

“We (the ministry) are reliant on a wide range of donors and I encourage such establishments to play a supportive role. In principle if they are to send school equipment then I welcome that idea,” he said.

The minister said if his ministry receives adequate funding it will launch a website which will bear information of all the schools in the country. He said the website would come in handy for any organisation that might want to access information on the country’s education sector.
“The website will cover all the schools in the country and will also include a map linked to a girdle to point out the exact location of a school,” he said.

Sunday Mail
By Itai Mazire
22 November 2009

Government will soon scrap teachers’ incentives in a move to stamp out corruption in schools and reduce rising tensions between teachers and parents.

Education, Art, Sports and Culture Minister Senator David Coltart said in an interview last week the incentives had created inequalities in the education system.
“Parents in rural schools are failing to pay levies, resulting in the teaching staff not receiving incentives,” he said.

“On the other hand, the majority of urban parents pay levies and these teachers benefit, causing unfair treatment of both parties in the system.”

The Government early this year allowed schools to offer teachers 10 percent of the levies as a way of cautioning them against poor remuneration.

It was agreed that the incentives were a temporary measure and would be dropped once the Government was in a position to pay better salaries.

Education Deputy Minister, Cde Lazarus Dokora, said last week that at least 96 school heads and school development committee chairpersons countrywide were facing allegations of abusing the incentives system.

The Ministry of Public Service has since said it is conducting investigations through the Public Service Commission on the abuse of the incentives.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority also indicated last week that it would consider the possibility of taxing the teachers’ incentives.

Meanwhile, teachers’ unions are appealing to Government to fast-track the payment of teachers who were granted amnesty to re-join the profession. The teachers have gone for nearly a year without getting their salaries.

“As a union we are appealing to the Government to waiver the existing stringent requirements as these are hindering teachers from professionally discharging their duties because they are not motivated,” said Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta), Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sifiso Ndlovu.

“Teachers have gone for over 10 months without getting their allowances and as a nation we expect them to deliver and be with our children.
“Such a teacher is dangerous because he or she has no drive and motivation.”

Mr Ndlovu said the registration of teachers granted amnesty should be done in a fair manner.

“The process involved in the registration has made it difficult for teachers to get their allowances as they need to have medical examinations, security vetting, which is only done in Harare, and then they have to forward these papers to their various district education offices,” he said.

Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), Secretary-General Mr Raymond Majongwe said education authorities were causing untold suffering to the returning teachers.

“Education officers are sitting on teachers’ re-admission forms and their payment papers for unknown reasons, making our members become destitute in the communities they serve,” said Mr Majongwe.

“Of the 16 000 teachers who re-applied, we understand that as of September this year, only 489 had been employed and of these only 17 were paid, which shows that there is a broken pipe in the system.”

Mr Majongwe said that teachers who had not received their salaries should continue to report for duty while the union engages the Government.

Senator Coltart said he had received assurances from the permanent secretary that teachers who were granted amnesty would soon receive their salaries.

The Standard
By Vusumuzi Sifile
22 November 2009

Costly blunders by management at the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) have raised fresh doubts that results for the “O” Level and “A” Level examinations starting on Friday will be released on time.

Zimsec insiders now fear a worse scenario than last year which saw “O” Level results eventually released in June this year.

Public examinations were originally scheduled for last month but after numerous postponements, Zimsec finally managed to reschedule the examinations to run from November 27 to December 18 – a delay of more than one month.

This brought some relief to parents and students, who were starting to think there would be no examinations this year.

But the relief could be short-lived.

Sources said the postponement could have an adverse impact on the marking process, which under normal circumstances should end on December 18, in time for the results to be released at the beginning of the year.

“With the current arrangement, it would be impossible for scripts to be marked on time,” said the source.

“Marking is usually done at tertiary institutions during the holidays, but since most of them will be opening on January 11 next year, there won’t be much time for marking before that.
“This might mean waiting until the next school holidays, or alternatively, taking the very expensive route of hiring venues for marking.”

It has also emerged that the controversial examinations body could lose thousands of dollars after a South African company bungled the printing of examination papers.
Zimsec is said to have successfully convinced the government to allow them to have examination papers printed in South Africa.

But some of the papers were mixed and had to be reprinted locally.

Senator David Coltart, the Minister of Education, confirmed the SA deal, saying it was the best they could get as it was much cheaper and more efficient compared to printing locally.

“We obviously wanted to get the best value for money, and the SA company put in a tender which was way below others, and we were satisfied by their good track record.
“For example, one local company had given us a quote of US$1.3 million, which was way over what we were charged,” Coltart said.

Contrary to this position, sources said the move has proven more costly for Zimsec.
In addition to accommodation and subsistence allowances for managers who travelled to Durban to discuss the deal, the company failed to deliver on time.

And some of the jobs were botched.

In some cases, questions for different subjects were printed on the same sheet.

“The reasons given for the outsourcing actually do not have any substance because at the moment, a lot of printing machines at Fidelity are lying idle.

“Those ones could have been used, as has been the case in previous years,” said the source.

Top Zimsec officials dodged questions when confronted about the new developments.
Zimsec deputy director Esau Nhandara, who was part of the team that travelled to SA, requested that questions be faxed to him, through the Zimsec public relations office.
Nhandara and Zimsec spokesperson Ezekiel Pasipamire promised to respond to the questions once faxed. But hours after he confirmed receipt of the fax, Pasipamire was singing a different tune.

“You can write whatever you want and sell your paper,” Pasipamire said. “You can call the Minister (of Education, David Coltart) if you want. Go ahead and write whatever you want… I have no comment.”

Further attempts to raise him on his mobile were also fruitless.

Zimsec director Happy Ndanga was also not forthcoming.

“I am in a meeting, a scheduled meeting for the whole day. You do not take priority over my meeting,” Ndanga said.

Coltart said he was not aware of the alleged mix-up, insisting the SA deal was the best they could get, both in terms of cost and quality.

The lid may however soon come off the current cover-up at Zimsec, following a recent audit of the institution, which was carried out by officials from the Auditor and Comptroller General, and a private firm.

It is understood the audit report exposes the “corporate governance crisis” at Zimsec, which has resulted in some dubious appointments.

The Standard
By Vusumuzi Sifile
22 November 2009

Costly blunders by management at the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) have raised fresh doubts that results for the “O” Level and “A” Level examinations starting on Friday will be released on time.

Zimsec insiders now fear a worse scenario than last year which saw “O” Level results eventually released in June this year.

Public examinations were originally scheduled for last month but after numerous postponements, Zimsec finally managed to reschedule the examinations to run from November 27 to December 18 – a delay of more than one month.

This brought some relief to parents and students, who were starting to think there would be no examinations this year.

But the relief could be short-lived.

Sources said the postponement could have an adverse impact on the marking process, which under normal circumstances should end on December 18, in time for the results to be released at the beginning of the year.

“With the current arrangement, it would be impossible for scripts to be marked on time,” said the source.

“Marking is usually done at tertiary institutions during the holidays, but since most of them will be opening on January 11 next year, there won’t be much time for marking before that.
“This might mean waiting until the next school holidays, or alternatively, taking the very expensive route of hiring venues for marking.”

It has also emerged that the controversial examinations body could lose thousands of dollars after a South African company bungled the printing of examination papers.
Zimsec is said to have successfully convinced the government to allow them to have examination papers printed in South Africa.

But some of the papers were mixed and had to be reprinted locally.

Senator David Coltart, the Minister of Education, confirmed the SA deal, saying it was the best they could get as it was much cheaper and more efficient compared to printing locally.

“We obviously wanted to get the best value for money, and the SA company put in a tender which was way below others, and we were satisfied by their good track record.
“For example, one local company had given us a quote of US$1.3 million, which was way over what we were charged,” Coltart said.

Contrary to this position, sources said the move has proven more costly for Zimsec.
In addition to accommodation and subsistence allowances for managers who travelled to Durban to discuss the deal, the company failed to deliver on time.
And some of the jobs were botched.

In some cases, questions for different subjects were printed on the same sheet.
“The reasons given for the outsourcing actually do not have any substance because at the moment, a lot of printing machines at Fidelity are lying idle.

“Those ones could have been used, as has been the case in previous years,” said the source.

Top Zimsec officials dodged questions when confronted about the new developments.
Zimsec deputy director Esau Nhandara, who was part of the team that travelled to SA, requested that questions be faxed to him, through the Zimsec public relations office.
Nhandara and Zimsec spokesperson Ezekiel Pasipamire promised to respond to the questions once faxed. But hours after he confirmed receipt of the fax, Pasipamire was singing a different tune.

“You can write whatever you want and sell your paper,” Pasipamire said. “You can call the Minister (of Education, David Coltart) if you want. Go ahead and write whatever you want… I have no comment.”

Further attempts to raise him on his mobile were also fruitless.

Zimsec director Happy Ndanga was also not forthcoming.

“I am in a meeting, a scheduled meeting for the whole day. You do not take priority over my meeting,” Ndanga said.

Coltart said he was not aware of the alleged mix-up, insisting the SA deal was the best they could get, both in terms of cost and quality.

The lid may however soon come off the current cover-up at Zimsec, following a recent audit of the institution, which was carried out by officials from the Auditor and Comptroller General, and a private firm.

It is understood the audit report exposes the “corporate governance crisis” at Zimsec, which has resulted in some dubious appointments.