The Zimbabwean
15 September 2009

The National Education Advisory Board, appointed in March this year, released its “Report on the Rapid Assessment of Primary and Secondary Education in Zimbabwe” yesterday at a Stakeholders Conference held at Prince Edward School, Harare. (Pictured: The Stakeholders in hall) The Assessment was funded by the European Commission, represented at the launch by Ms Barbara Plinkert, Head of the Social Sector. This was the first task requested by Minister David Coltart, in order to have reliable data on which to base the work of reconstruction of the education sector. Among other findings in the sample 120 schools throughout the country, over 20% of primary schools had not a single textbook for English, Mathematics or African language – even for the teacher! Large numbers of pupils in rural areas had no place to sit or write. School buildings, teachers’ houses, furniture etc were generally dilapidated. Many schools had not been visited for years by Ministry officials due to lack of resources. Examination results were generally poor, teacher morale was low and the relationship between teachers and parents had deteriorated.
The Conclusions were as follows:
“The Rapid Assessment focused on a number of problem areas and challenges which require immediate attention. Despite the limitations of a study done in such a short space of time, it provided a snapshot of the situation and the immediate steps needed to stabilize and improve the situation of education as a whole. At the same time, it made clear that a more in-depth approach is needed in the longer term. For example major inputs are required to improve the condition and morale of teachers who will always remain key players within the education system. These include repairing the damaged status of teachers and the problematic relationship which has developed between parents and teachers due to the fact that parents, including very poor parents, were forced by circumstances to take over responsibility for teachers’ remuneration during the period when the State was unable to fulfill its obligations in this regard. The staffing and resourcing of the MOESAC have been seriously affected, and need both re-structuring and updating. The shortage of resources for the education sector has to be seriously addressed and stabilized primarily by the State, assisted by donors and parents. At the same time, there has been major erosion of educational infrastructure which needs to be addressed. The provision of teaching learning materials has deteriorated to the extent that the industries servicing the education sector are no longer able to do so optimally.”
The Report includes a number of recommendations on the way forward, divided into urgent recommendations to Ministry not requiring additional expenditure and those requiring additional funding, medium-term recommendations to Ministry and recommendations to Partners…ENDS

14 September 2009
Unicef.org

UNICEF and its partners are launching a massive campaign in Zimbabwe to get textbooks into school classrooms.

In one of the largest social initiatives of the past five years, the Educational Transition Fund announced today that it is spending $70 million on the initiative. Its goal is to ensure that all of Zimbabwe’s children receive a quality education.

Zimbabwe’s education system – once one of the best in sub-Saharan Africa – has declined to the point where one in five primary schools has no English, mathematics or African-language textbooks. As a result, pass rates have fallen significantly and more than 50 per cent of primary school pupils do not go on to secondary school.

Books in the schools

According to UNICEF Representative in Zimbabwe Dr. Peter Salama, the initiative launched today will increase the ratio of learning materials – currently estimated at 1 textbook for every 10 students – to one book for every two pupils within the next year.

The campaign will also ensure that school fees are paid for a large number of the country’s orphaned and vulnerable children, and those affected by the country’s catastrophic economic downturn.

Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product has contracted drastically since 2000, explained Dr. Salama.
“That’s resulted in rapid increases in household poverty levels. And when households are poor, they find it very hard to fund the basic school fees or levies or costs associated with getting kids to school, such as uniforms or text books,” he added.

‘Visionary recommitment’

The education drive is supported by the Governments of Australia, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Commission.

The initiative’s broader goal is to kick-start Zimbabwe’s educational system as a whole.

“We know that historically Zimbabwe has highly valued education,” explained Dr. Salama, “So the issue is not so much getting kids to come to school. It’s more about ensuring they get a quality education once they’re there. And, of course, if you’re sharing one textbook between ten kids, it’s very hard to get a quality education.

“Support from these donors represents a bold and visionary recommitment to Zimbabwe’s children,” he added.

14 September 2009
Zimonline

HARARE – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Monday availed US$70 million to Zimbabwe’s under-funded education sector that is currently reeling under a two-week-old strike by teachers across the country.

“The government of Zimbabwe, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the international donor community today unveiled a US$70 million partnership through the Educational Transition Fund,” UNICEF said in a statement.

According to UNICEF, the funds would be used to acquire learning materials for pupils in the country’s public schools that have taken a heavy battering since the late 1990s, largely due to under-funding and neglect by the government.

“Recent assessment revealed serious shortages of learning materials, textbooks and supplies in schools. One assessment showed a pupil to text book ratio of 10 pupils per every textbook, across Zimbabwe,” UNICEF country representative Peter Salama said.

“The objective for the first year is to reach every child in Zimbabwe with a textbook within 12 months.”
UNICEF assisted by the Ministry of Education, as well as other donor partners will administer the US$70m fund.

Education Minister David Coltart said the government must allocate more resources to the education sector and appealed to striking teachers to return to work.

“The education sector still faces numerous challenges, but the transition fund we launch today is a positive step towards the revival of the sector,” Coltart said.

“If we do not allocate meaningful resources in real terms to the education sector it will remain in a calamitous state. I deeply regret the ongoing strike by teachers and hope that an acceptable arrangement can be arrived at shortly to ensure teachers get back to classrooms.”

Teachers affiliated to the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA), the largest of two unions representing the country’s 90 000 teachers went on an indefinite nationwide strike beginning September 2 when the final school term of the year began, demanding that salaries and allowances be adjusted progressively towards the poverty datum line of US$502 by December 2009.

Currently teachers take home US$155 a month after government hiked salaries for all civil servants last month from the US$100 allowance they were getting since formation of the country’s coalition government in February.

The smaller Progressive Teachers Union (PTUZ) did not support the strike call, urging teachers to report for duty to give the cash-strapped coalition government of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai time to raise resources to improve salaries and working conditions.

Zimbabwe’s education sector, once revered as one of the best in Africa, is a shadow of its former self because of a severe economic crisis over the past decade that has seen government fail to pay realistic salaries to teachers and provide learning materials such as chalks, textbooks and exercise books.

Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government between Tsvangirai and Mugabe has promised to revive the economy and restore basic services such as health and education that had virtually collapsed after years of recession.

But the failure by the unity government – which says it requires a total US$10 billion to get Zimbabwe on its feet again – to convince rich Western nations to release grants and soft loans has hampered its ability to drive the recovery effort.

Western governments insist they will not provide support until they see evidence Mugabe is committed to genuinely sharing power with Tsvangirai.

14 September 2009
Radio VOP

Harare, September 14, 2009 -Education, Sports and Culture David Coltart on Monday appealed to the government to allocate more resources to the education sector as the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) on Monday availed 70 US million dollars to Zimbabwe schools.

Speaking at the launch of the Unicef’s 70 US dollar million fund to assist in the buying of school textbooks to Zimbabwe schools Coltart said the education sector is in a “calamitous state” , regretting the ongoing strike by teachers.

“If we do not allocate meaningful resources in real terms to the education sector it will remain in calamitous state. Most of our buildings are seriously dilapidated and they alone will require hundreds of millions of dollars to rehabilitate,” said Coltart.

“When I took office in February 2009 I found the education sector in a calamitous state.I deeply regret the on-going strike and I hope that an acceptable arrangement can be arrived at shortly to ensure teachers back into classrooms.”

Peter Salama , Unicef’s country represantative said the US 70 million dollar fund will be used to buy school textbooks after realising that almost one textbook is shared among 10 pupils.

“Unicef has estimated that the ratio of textbooks to pupils is around 1 textbook for every 10 children,” Salama said.

“The objective for the first year is to reach every child in Zimbabwe with a textbook within 12 months.”
Zimbabwe education sector, once the best in the region has been facing problems in the last decade due to the political and economic crisis over the years.
Teachers are on strike demanding a salary hike from the US 165 dollars to US 500 dollars.
Zimbabwe unity government formed by long the long ruling President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been struggling to access donor funds to kick-start the economy.
The European Union at the weekend announced it would give 90 million Euros for the education sector and said Zimbabwe must fully implement the political deal that brought the unity government in February.

14 September 2009
VOA
By Ish Mafundikwa

The international donor community has unveiled a $70-million Educational Transition Fund aimed at improving the quality of education for the country’s children. Some of the money will also be used to pay school fees for orphans and other under privileged children.

Zimbabwe used to enjoy the highest literacy rate on the African continent, but the country’s economic stagnation of the past decade has put an end to that. School buildings and furniture at most public schools are in a state of disrepair and learning materials, especially text books, are in short supply.

Speaking at the launch of the Education Transition Fund at Mutasa Primary School in Harare, Education, Sports and Culture Minister David Coltart said $50 million would go towards addressing the severe shortage of textbooks in schools.

“In many schools the only textbook is the one held by the teacher,” said David Coltart. “In most government schools the ratio is no better that 1 to 15. Accordingly the first task of the education transition fund will be to arrange for the printing of literally millions of textbooks with the objective of delivering the same to our poorest and most needy schools during the first term of 2010 and thereafter.”

The other $20 million would go towards revitalizing the government’s Basic Education Assistance Module, which was set up to assist orphans and other under privileged children with school fees. Speaking at the launch of the fund, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Paurina Mupariwa said $35 million is needed to support children in need per term.

But the textbook situation is just one of numerous challenges schools face. In the grounds of Mutasa Primary School VOA saw clusters of children sitting in the dirt being taught in the shade of trees.

Teacher Temptation Muringisi is putting her class of 39 through a mathematics lesson.

“We are under the tree because of a shortage of classrooms,” said Temptation Muringisi. “We share the classroom with the grade fives so we spend half the day outside, then we go in the classroom and do our written work.”

During the rainy season Muringisi said the children have to wait in the corridors for their turn in the classrooms. She added that no lessons are held in the corridors, as that would disturb the children in the classrooms.

The British, Australian, Swedish, New Zealand, Norwegian governments and the European Union are some of the partners who contributed to the Education Transition Fund, which will be administered by the United Nations’ children’s agency, UNICEF.

14 September 2009
Zimbabwe Telegraph

ZIMBABWE – HARARE – The Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) national executive will meet before the end of this week to discuss whether to call off the on-going teachers strike.

The Zimta national executive will also debate the effect of the strike on pupils sitting for this year’s public examinations in November.

The teachers withdrew their services when the schools opened on 2 September, demanding a salary increase and a review of their working conditions.

The teachers want the re-introduction of the US$100 allowance and a basic salary, which would be progressively increased until it reaches US$500 by December.

Zimta Chief Executive Officer, Sifiso Ndlovu said the meeting is meant to get a feedback from the provinces on the strike.

“We are going to review the progress of the strike and get reports from the provinces on the situation on the ground. Members have sent their views on the strike and we have been consulting other stakeholders,” he said.

Ndlovu said the meeting would also consider calls from stakeholders to exercise “restrictive measures” on the strike.

“The stakeholders expressed concern that the strike might disrupt the holding of this year’s Ordinary and Advanced level examinations. Minister David Coltart has also been making calls for negotiations and in this light it might be necessary to consider the call,” he said.

However, Ndlovu could not be drawn into revealing whether the association would end the strike at the meeting.

“We are still receiving feedback from teachers all over the country and we can only adopt a position in the meeting after evaluating all the input,” said he said.

He said they were also waiting for the convening of the National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC) some time this week but their meeting would continue whether it was convened or not.

Talks held between Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Coltart and Zimta last week ended in a deadlock with neither party refusing to give in.

The teachers’ unions have issued conflicting statements concerning the strike with Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ) saying members should go back to work while Zimta has been against the idea.-

14 September 2009
The Zimbabwean
By Natasha Hove

MUTARE – Police have arrested student leaders at Mutare Polytechnic following the publication of their open letter to Education Minister David Coltart bemoaning the collapse of the education sector.
Student Representative Council (SRC) President Charles Chiyangwa and Secretary-General Bestinos Kundishora were detained at the Mutare CID law and order offices on Thursday in connection with the open letter published by The Zimbabwean the same day. According to their lawyer, Blessing Nyamaropa, they were charged with being a ‘criminal nuisance’ under Section 46 of the notorious Criminal Law and Codification and Reform Act. They were released after paying fines of US$5 on Friday, said Nyamaropa.

In their letter, the student leaders challenged the education ministry and the government to address the plight of students. The Zimbabwe National Union Student (Zinasu) slammed the arrest as an act of intimidation to force students to abandon their countrywide protest over high tuition fees. The arrest, they said, was a clear indication of the state’s paranoia about the union’s mobilisation for a sustained campaign against the privatisation of education in Zimbabwe. “Zinasu remains firm and steadfast in the struggle to defend the students’ rights and will not capitulate to any act of intimidation,” said Blessing Vava, the Zinasu spokesperson. Many university and college students have been forced to abandon studies over high tuition fees that the government has defended as necessary to revive the ruined education sector. Vava added: “Zinasu condemns the continued harassment of students by the government of the day and the union will continue fighting against the privatisation of education in Zimbabwe.”

14 September 2009
Newsnet

The Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture has launched a training curriculum for teachers and other personnel in the ministry on conservation farming, which is expected to prepare them to implement and teach the concept in schools.

The Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture has launched a training curriculum for teachers and other personnel in the ministry on conservation farming, which is expected to prepare them to implement and teach the concept in schools.

The training of the curriculum, Foundations of Farming is being spearheaded by a non-governmental organisation called Foundation of Farming and seeks to impart conservation farming skills starting at grassroots level.

The initiative is expected to assist poor communities to harvest better yields at low cost, thereby reducing poverty and hunger.

The project is initially targeting Deputy Provincial Education Directors, District Education Officers, 20 pilot schools and two teachers from each province.

Foundations of Farming will focus on secondary school pupils from Form 1 to 4 and will eventually be integrated into the existing agriculture syllabus and the HIV and AIDS life skills programme.

The Minister of Education, Sport Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart expressed hope that the programme will boost the nation’s food security especially in the rural areas and also reduce environmental degradation caused by poor farming methods.

“The development of this new curriculum is primarily designed to take a look at agriculture holistically and not to take a narrow look. Its primary purpose is injecting foundations for farming to equip teachers and students with conservation farming skills. The target group will initially be Form 1 to 4s,” noted Senator Coltart.

Foundations of Farming Trainer, Mr. Craig Deal said the programme is not only based on teaching technical skills but life skills and is based on the biblical principles of faithfulness, stewardship and giving.

“The vision for Foundation of Farming is more than creating self sustainability but teaching the word of God,” said Mr Deal.

Conservation farming has been in the Zimbabwean school curriculum for years although it has not been fully implemented in agricultural practice.

It is regarded as one of the most appropriate technologies which can address the underlying crop management problems facing most farmers.

14 September 2009
Newsnet

The government of Zimbabwe in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and international donor agencies have launched a US $ 70 million Education Transition Fund (ETF) which is expected to lessen resource constraints being faced by the local education sector.

The ETF was launched by Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister, Senator David Coltart at Mutasa Primary School in Harare’s Highfield suburb and is aimed at restoring basic level education by providing teaching materials for needy schools.

Senator Coltart reiterated government’s commitment to revive the education sector and said the first priority under the fund will be to arrange for the printing of millions of textbooks to be distributed to several needy schools during the first term of 2010.

“The second priority is to address the shockingly poor ratios of textbooks to pupils. In many schools the only textbook is one held by the teacher. Accordingly the first task will be to arrange for the printing of millions of textbook to be distributed to several needy schools,” said minister Coltart.

UNICEF country representative Dr. Peter Salama whose organization has agreed to manage the fund together with government departments in the education sector said the fund is one of the many strategies being undertaken to overcome the challenges affecting the sector.

“This is just but one of the many challenges that needs to be addressed. We also have the issue of teacher salaries among other challenges,” the country representative said.

The launch of the Fund also coincided with the revival efforts by the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture and donor agencies in revitalising the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) facility with some resources having been mobilized towards the programme.

14 September 2009
Moneybiz

HARARE – A $70 million education fund was launched in Zimbabwe on Monday that aims to provide a textbook to every child and eradicate a ratio of one book per 10 school pupils.

The fund, unveiled by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Zimbabwean government and international donors, is aimed at restoring the country’s education sector which imploded under a political and economic crisis.

“UNICEF has estimated that the ratio of textbooks to pupils is around one textbook for every 10 children,” said the agency’s country representative Peter Salama.

“The objective for the first year is to reach every child in Zimbabwe with a textbook within 12 months.”
Six months after the implementation of a unity government in Zimbabwe, the country once seen as one of the most literate societies on the continent still faces a crisis in schools lacking teachers and equipment.

Education Minister David Coltart said the fund, which will be managed by UNICEF, will assist schools where “the only textbook is the one held by the teacher”.

Zimbabwe’s teachers are currently striking to demand a basic salary of $500 (€340). They currently earn the $165 dollars paid to most government workers but the government has said it cannot meet the teachers’ demands.
Zimbabwe’s unity government formed by longtime political rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai have appealed to donor countries to assist in rebuilding the economy.
Education Minister David Coltart, who said he “deeply regrets” the ongoing strike, has appealed to the government to allocate more funds to education.
“If we do not allocate meaningful resources in real terms to the education sector it will remain in a calamitous state,” he said.
“Most of our buildings are seriously dilapidated and they alone will require hundreds of millions of dollars to rehabilitate.”