Radio VOP
Harare, September 13, 2009

The European Union has pledged to invest 90 million Euros in the Zimbabwean education sector.
This comes a day before another commitment to invest 70 million dollars in education through donor agencies by the United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef).

Speaking at a press conference in the capital, Harare before leaving for Brussels, EU commissioner Karel de Gucht said the European block had always supported Zimbabweans after the regional union slapped President Robert Mugabe and his close allies with travel bans and assets freeze since 2002.
“The European Union has never stopped helping Zimbabwe between 2002 and 2009 roughly 600 million Euros have gone through humanitarian aid,” de Gucht said.

“We are now switching to more structural aid to what we call transitional aid, for education in 2009 alone we will invest 90 million Euros in Zimbabwe.”

Unicef through other donor agencies will tomorrow (Monday) launch a US 70 million dollar investment into the Zimbabwean education sector at Mutasa primary school in Mufakose, Harare at a event to be officiated by Minister of Education, David Coltart, Unicef said.

The EU delegation met with President Robert Mugabe and reiterated that EU sanctions on Zimbabwe will stay until there is progress in the implementation of the global political agreement. The delegation was also due to meet with the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Zanu PF and the two MDC formations have yet to agree on some outstanding issues which have stalled the unity government set up in February. Among other things the MDC want the reversal of the unilateral appointments by Mugabe of the Attorney General, Johannes Tomana and the Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono.

Zimbabwe education sector once the best in the Southern Africa has been in the doldrums facing various challenges which include teachers strikes, shortages of textbooks and teaching materials.
Teachers have been leaving for neighbouring countries to teach or work as manual labourers for better salaries.

Learning has continued unhindered on most private owned schools while the majority of public schools have been hard hit as teachers left in droves due to lack of incentives.

The two main teachers union have sent conflicting statements on the strike which began when the term started in September. The Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) called for a strike while the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe distanced their members from the job action.

Teachers are currently earning a salary of US 165 dollars like any other civil servant up from the flat salary of US 100 dollars introduced by the unity government.

The government has already announced that it doesn’t have the funds to increase the salaries of civil servants.

Guardian.co.uk,
By Blessing-Miles Tendi
Sunday 13 September 2009

At a summit last week, southern African leaders called on western states to “remove all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe”. They contend that Zimbabwe’s power-sharing deal cannot be effectively implemented until sanctions are lifted. The EU and US say sanctions will not be lifted until the power-sharing agreement is appropriately observed.

Disagreement over the imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe is not new. It goes back to 2002 when, at the request of Britain and some Zimbabwean civil society elements, the EU first imposed targeted sanctions on Robert Mugabe, Zanu-PF elites and companies associated with the Zanu-PF regime. African leaders’ reaction to sanctions at the time was typified by Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa’s remarks:

As you have heard about Zimbabwe and the EU’s decision to impose sanctions, it seems they want to divide Africa at Brussels in 2002 just as they did in Berlin in 1884. Africa must be prepared to say no!
Zanu-PF’s response was a determined propaganda effort to cast Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as “sell-outs” who campaigned for the imposition of unjustified sanctions that were “racist” and an interference in the country’s internal affairs. Since 2002 Zanu-PF has religiously circulated this message, depicting Tsvangirai’s MDC in cahoots with imperialist western states.

Today Tsvangirai’s MDC is asked to advocate the removal of sanctions because it instigated them, as if Zanu-PF’s human rights violations were never and are not real.

The problem is not necessarily targeted sanctions themselves, because Zanu-PF’s well-documented systematic human rights violations validated them. The trouble is that the west’s condemnations and targeted sanctions against Mugabe and Zanu-PF elites would command more authority if the same human rights standards were applied to every country evenly. This is a reality the high-level EU delegation visiting Zimbabwe this weekend must grapple with.

Sanctions have become a convenient scapegoat for Zanu-PF. Some white Zimbabwean farmers evicted from commercial farms were instructed by invading war veterans to “speak to your George Bush and tell him to drop the sanctions – once this is done you may have your farms back”. The existence of sanctions allows Zanu-PF to argue that Zimbabwe’s breathtaking economic decline was not caused by Zanu-PF’s adoption of a disastrous Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (Esap) in the early 1990s, massive corruption by Zanu-PF elites, an ineptly implemented land reform programme and the country’s 1998 involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where, as the academic Norma Kriger writes, “in six months the government spent more money on the DRC military venture than it had spent on land purchases since 1980”. Western sanctions that the Tsvangirai MDC canvassed for are the origin of Zimbabwe’s economic debility instead.

While the MDC denies that it ever campaigned for sanctions, its message on the sanctions issue has never been as coherent and consistent as that of Zanu-PF. After the 2000 parliamentary election, MDC MP David Coltart advanced the following rationale as one of the factors behind the MDC’s choice not to enlist civil disobedience to dispute the results of the controversial election:

The international community pleaded with us to hold off on the use of mass action, promising at the same time that if we backed off, they would do all they could to increase pressure on Mugabe
Such statements allowed Zanu-PF to infer that by “pressure” the MDC meant sanctions.

Zanu-PF’s propaganda machinery publicised this conjecture as evidence that the Tsvangirai MDC was pro-sanctions. It did not help the MDC’s cause that some of its MPs such as Trudy Stevenson publicly boasted that “we [Tsvangirai’s MDC] have good contacts with the international community and Mugabe is going to have to negotiate with us”.

If the EU ends its isolation of Zimbabwe and lifts targeted sanctions, it is left with reduced leverage in influencing Zanu-PF to fully implement the power-sharing agreement. To date Zanu-PF has flouted the terms of the agreement at will, with no significant reform occurring. However, maintaining targeted sanctions provides a fillip for Zanu-PF propaganda, which the Tsvangirai MDC has thus far failed to counter.

Sunday News
By Lulu Brenda Harris
13th September 2009

THE Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) will tomorrow launch the Education Transition Fund (ETF), which calls for one child, one textbook, in Harare, Minister David Coltart has said.

In an interview with Sunday News Senator Coltart said the programme is a short term programme designed to restore acceptable levels of textbooks in schools.

“Once that has been achieved we will revert to the existing system of allowing market forces to operate in the supply and distribution of textbooks,” he said.

The Minister said the transition fund run by the Education Co-ordination Group is a move to improve co-operation between donors and the Government.

“This was designed to facilitate dialogue and co-operation between donors and the ministry. It comprises ministry officials and donor representatives, UNICEF and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which I chair,” he said.

UNICEF has been sponsoring schools with textbooks countrywide for years but this programme only took off in February this year.

“When I took office in February I immediately started to engage UNICEF and the donor community to get support for the education sector, in particular for teachers’ incentives and for learning materials including textbooks,” he said.

The one child, one textbook programme is part of the ministry’s plan to review the country’s education system.

The Education Co-ordination Group is working towards providing a wide range of education material and assistance in the ministry’s restructuring exercise.

“There are ongoing efforts to secure funds to assist teachers and the ETF will eventually work towards procuring a wide range of education materials and will also provide funding for technical assistance to assist the ministry restructure and revitalise its operations. It is thus a vital part of the ministry’s plan to revitalise education,” said Senator Coltart.

Every child in the country is set to benefit from this programme and improve distribution of textbooks in schools as some lack these for the students but the exercise is estimated to cost US$90 million for it to be successful meaning a lot of work needs to be done to reach that target.

The scheme will cater for core textbooks required by both primary and secondary students.

“There are close to three million school children in Zimbabwe. All children will benefit from the scheme although at this stage we will not achieve our aim of reaching a 1:1 ratio of textbooks to children.
“This stage of the programme to obtain textbooks will greatly improve the ratios (which are as high as 1:36 in some schools) but there will remain much work to be done to get the ratios down to acceptable levels. We have estimated in the Ministry that it could cost up to US$90 million to achieve a 1:1 ratio,” he said.

The plan is to get many textbooks printed locally to subsidise costs and produce sufficient quantities within the specified time frame.

The ministry is also collaborating with local publishing houses to produce many copies at a low price as a move seen to be patriotic in reviving the country’s education.

“We are collaborating with publishing houses to ensure that we are able to produce the maximum number of textbooks at the lowest possible cost.

“We have asked publishing houses not to see this as an opportunity to make windfall profits but to cut their profit back to a minimum in the interests of Zimbabwean children and as a national patriotic effort to stabilise this critical sector which is in such chaos at present,” he said.

The Standard
By Caiphas Chimhete
13 September 2009

Zimbabwe’s long-suffering school children are once again caught in the war of attrition between the country’s political rivals. An estimated 80% of schools remained shut when the crucial third term began a fortnight ago after the biggest union, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) called for a national job boycott.

Zimta says it is not happy that the seven-month old inclusive government has failed to improve on the US$155 salaries it started giving teachers in July.

However, Zimta’s cause has been discredited by the decision by small unions, the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) and the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Union (ZTU) not to take part in the strike.

The two unions say Zimta, which enjoyed good relations with President Robert Mugabe’s previous administration is being used by Zanu PF elements desperate to discredit the inclusive government.

Education officials last week said the unions’ positions regarding the on-going strike were shaped more by their political inclination than by the desire to see the plight of teachers being addressed.

Hopes for the revival of the sector had been pinned on the inclusive government but such optimism is being dampened by the unions’ endless fights.

This, the officials said, is being worsened by the fact that the inclusive government is broke and the critical shortage of teachers, most of whom skipped the country for better salaries.

“The bickering by the unions mirrors the internal strife in the inclusive government,” said one official who requested anonymity.

The once “docile” Zimta seems to have suddenly found its voice following the formation of the inclusive government in February.

It says 80% of schools in the country are closed because of the strike.

Surprisingly the usually militant PTUZ, which widely is seen as sympathetic to MDC-T led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has urged its members to ignore the strike.

The union says it cannot be used to fight a war “that is not ours”.

“We want government to understand that teachers’ concerns are genuine but we are not going to accept to bring back the anarchy and chaos of yesteryear under the guise of trade unionism,” said PTUZ secretary general Raymond Majongwe.

He denies being an “auxiliary” of any political party but sees a hidden hand in the on-going strike.
Until last term, the militant PTUZ had been leading crippling teachers’ strikes.

“This strike is not a strike. Look at what is happening and you will see a hidden hand. We cannot be part it,” he declared.

The PTUZ claims that it received reports that Zimta officials were distributing circulars countrywide urging teachers to go on strike using Mahindra and CAM vehicles without registration number plates.

The same types of vehicles were used by state security agents in last year’s violent elections in which at least 200 MDC activists were murdered.

The militant union also claimed that Zimta officials, working in cahoots with rowdy war veterans, were chasing away teachers who are reporting for work, particularly in the rural areas.

The Standard heard that teachers are being told to go on strike or “else we will do what we did to you last year”.

Several teachers were brutally assaulted for allegedly supporting the MDC last year.

“Where was Zimta when teachers were being butchered in last year’s violent elections? Where was Zimta when teachers were earning R2 a month?” questioned Majongwe.

But Zimta acting chief executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu dismissed claims that his union was fighting a Zanu PF cause.

“It’s an unfounded statement, unfortunate and scandalous,” Ndlovu said.

Ndlovu said Zimta, formed in 1942 before the birth of Zanu PF 21 years later, was “genuinely representing the interests” of teachers.

Teachers earn US$150 a month. They want their salaries to match the poverty datum line (PDL) estimated at about US$500 a month.

“This is a bread and butter issue which has nothing to do with the MDC or Zanu PF,” Ndlovu said. “Such statements from our colleagues are meant to distract us from solving real issues affecting teachers.”

Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) director Alouis Chaumba believes the strike was being sponsored by people determined to see the collapse of the inclusive government.

“I believe someone is fuelling this,” he said. “I smell a rat. There are people throwing spanners in the works of the new government.”

But he could not give names.

Contacted for comment Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Senator David Coltart referred The Standard to a letter he wrote to Zimta and copied to all unions on next week’s National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC) meeting.

In the letter Coltart said: “It is of deep concern to me that the strike has not ended yet.

“I am increasingly concerned about the deleterious consequences for children, especially those writing public examinations in the next few weeks.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said while it was cognizant of the teachers’ plight, it was essential to put the interests of children first.

“While as Unicef we fully respect the need for teachers to be paid a living wage, we are very conscious of the fact that the last academic year was lost and we call upon all partners to put the best interests of children first,” said Unicef representative in Zimbabwe, Peter Salama in a statement.

The fund dismissed reports that it intended to directly provide teachers with a salary package of any sort.
Parents last week lambasted teachers for putting their interests ahead of children’s future.

Amon Sigauke, whose son is in Form IV at a school in Marondera, said teachers were being inconsiderate.
“Every other civil servant is getting such little amounts of money because the government has no money. Why do teachers want to be special and get much more?” Sigauke said.

Chaumba urged teachers to return to work in the interests of children who are supposed to write end-of-year of examination in November.

“They are demanding from a source that cannot produce it,” he said.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said the government has no money to increase teachers’ salaries before the end of the year.

Last year, at the height of the country’s political problems educationists say children spent an average of 22 days at schools due to the intermittent strikes.

Sunday Mail
By Tafadzwa Chiremba and Fortunate Jaravaza
13th September 2009

MORE than 1 400 teachers who heeded the Government’s call for professionals living in the Diaspora to return home and resume duties are having second thoughts about their decision after going for the past six months without pay.

It emerged last week that although the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture had initially assured them of a smooth return, bureaucratic bottlenecks are impeding their reintegration into the country’s education system.

Some of the teachers are reportedly facing disciplinary action for discontinuing duties without notifying the relevant authorities while others are supposed to re-apply before being formally readmitted.
In an interview last week, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said his ministry was experiencing administrative problems because of the massive staff exodus.
He said Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) were exploring ways of securing the returning teachers’ salaries.

“We are engaged in talks with a view to sourcing funds. “It is a matter of extreme urgency,” he said.
In March this year, Government announced an amnesty for teachers who migrated to other countries, saying they would be allowed to take their jobs back if they returned home.

More than 1 935 responded, but only 438 of them have been formally reinstated and are receiving salaries.

Those yet to be confirmed are expected to produce three application letters, three academic certificates, three copies of curriculum vitae and six testimonial letters from people outside the education sector.

In a letter to Senator Coltart recently, Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Mr Raymond Majongwe indicated that the readmission procedure was too stringent.
“Why would one be compelled to bring copies of all such documents when they have only been absent from duty for a few months?” he said.

“We strongly feel that some of these unnecessary, laborious and misplaced requirements should be done away with. The matter begs for urgent intervention on your part.”

In an interview last week, Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) secretary-general Mr Richard Gundane called on Government to waive the readmission conditions.

“We sympathise with the teachers who returned. These teachers were forced out of a system they wanted to continue serving, hence the disciplinary procedures should be relaxed,” he said.
Senator Coltart said less than half of the returning teachers were cleared because his ministry was experiencing administrative problems.

He said the exercise is, however, expected to be completed by December 31 this year.

Sunday Mail
By Fortunate Jaravaza
13th September 2009

As part of measures to revive the country’s education system, the Government will tomorrow unveil a massive scheme under which all State-run primary and secondary schools will receive textbooks.

The programme is expected to significantly cut Zimbabwe’s pupil-to-book ratio, which stands at 40-to-one.

In an interview last week, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said his ministry had, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), facilitated the publication of the learning material.

He said the textbooks would boost the local education sector, adding that the European Union, the United States, Norway, Sweden and Japan were among those who funded the initiative.

“The massive textbook launch will take place at Mutasa Primary School in Highfields in Harare on Monday (tomorrow). The ministry will unveil textbooks that cater for subjects being taught at primary and secondary school level,” said Senator Coltart.

“The entire exercise will only be focusing on Government schools around the country.” The textbook scheme is expected to help improve teaching and learning conditions in Government schools, which had deteriorated over the last few years.

A shortage of stationery ranked among the major problems afflicting the education sector.
In the past, Government would provide the material at a nominal fee, but the country’s dire economic situation has continued to inhibit its capacity to perform this function.

An interim report by the Education Advisory Board shows that Government schools are operating way below capacity.

ZimDiaspora.com
11th September 2009

THE European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Karel De Gucht will undertake a joint visit to Zimbabwe as part of an EU Troika mission with the Swedish EU Presidency on Saturday 12 th and Sunday 13 th September.

The joint-EU mission aims to underline the urgent need for Zimbabwe’s unity government to fully implement the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in order for the EU to be able to fully re-engage with Zimbabwe and restore its co-operation assistance in full. The joint EU mission to Zimbabwe follows on from the visit by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and members of the inclusive government to Brussels in mid-June to re-launch the political dialogue between the EU and Harare. Discussions on the Saturday are expected to be held with all parties including with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in Bulawayo and President Robert Mugabe in Harare.

Commissioner De Gucht will also meet with Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

Commissioner Karel De Gucht stated, “There is an urgent need for all parties to fulfil their obligations under the Global Political Agreement (GPA). By doing this, the EU can once again fully re-engage with Zimbabwe and help the country on its return to normality and prosperity by resuming our development cooperation in full. This is a critical time for Zimbabwe and the weight of responsibility falls squarely on the country’s leaders to deliver urgent political, economic and social progress for the benefit of all the people of Zimbabwe. They must work together to resolve any difficulties surrounding the GPA’s full implementation. We have seen some stabilisation of the economy in recent months and with this visit I am looking forward to the possibility to meet with the three Principals of the Agreement, so as to listen to them and discuss the way forward towards the normalization of EU-Zimbabwe relations”.

On Saturday, Commissioner Karel De Gucht will also meet Zimbabwean Minister of Education David Coltart to launch the European Commission’s contribution of €7.5 million to the education sector, mainly aimed at providing teaching and learning material to Zimbabwean primary schools.

On the Sunday morning, Commissioner Karel De Gucht will also visit a key Commission funded humanitarian project in Chitungwiza just outside Harare. The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department, under the direct responsibility of the Commissioner, provided €1.4 million euros for the rehabilitation of the Prince Edward water treatment plant as well as supporting direct hygiene and sanitation action in the fight against the 2008/9 Cholera outbreak.

The European Commission is the overall main donor to vulnerable populations of Zimbabwe, having provided €572 million in both humanitarian and essential development aid to the population since 2002.

Herald
By Felex Share
11th September 2009

The Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council has extended the registration dates for this year’s Ordinary and Advanced Level papers to September 25 after gathering that more than three quarters of potential candidates might have failed to register because they were still to pay the fees.

The examinations body had set today as the deadline for the payment of fees but it appears most parents have so far failed to pay them.

The exam fees are US$10 a subject for O-Level and US$20 a subject for A- Level.

In a statement yesterday, Zimsec acting director Mr Esau Nhandara said they had realised the need to extend the dates but the fees remained unchanged.

A number of schools had told Zimsec that it would be impractical to administer this year’s public examinations because of the small numbers of candidates who had registered.

A snap survey showed low levels of registration by students intending to sit for O and A Level examinations.

Another survey by the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe indicates that up to 75 percent of candidates were yet to register.

In separate interviews, a number of school heads in Harare and Chitungwiza revealed that between 15 and 30 percent of their candidates had been able to pay the required examination fees.

Contacted for comment, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart said Government was trying to work out a way in which all candidates could sit for their examinations.

He was, however, quick to highlight that running the examinations would be difficult if parents failed to pay the gazetted fees.

“Zimsec uses the money it collects in fees for preparing for examinations and printing question papers.

“If they fail to get the money then it means a big problem for the nation as Government does not have the funds at the moment.

“We will make sure that justice is done to the pupils who are the future leaders of the country,” said Minister Coltart.

Hard-hit are students in rural areas, where an estimated 75 percent of students had failed to register.

For instance in Manicaland Province, out of an estimated 5 000 O- Level candidates, only 1 170 had paid the fees, the union said.

PTUZ secretary-general Mr Raymond Majongwe said: “In Bulawayo, less than 50 percent of O- Level students have paid.

“In Harare, at Seke 4 High 50 out of about 300 have registered; at Mufakose High 1 out of a possible 315 students 78 have registered to sit for the O-Level exams.”

He said at Tafara High School of the 77 registered students, out of a possible 239, 52 had their fees paid by a non-governmental organisation.

Mr Majongwe said the initial indications of their study were that nationwide about 75 percent of potential candidates may have failed to register.

It remains doubtful, however, that the deadline extension will significantly change the picture.

Parents who spoke to The Herald yesterday said Zimsec had told them to “hurry up and register” but they simply could not fork out what was being asked for.

An irate parent Mr Roy Matende of Harare, who said he could not raise the examination fees for his son, said Government should have done something to ensure that the cost remained affordable.

Many parents had been struggling to pay school fees, he said, and it was unlikely that they would be able to raise what he described as the “exorbitant” exam fees.

Mr Matende said while parents could opt to put their children in schools that ask for lower school fees, they had no such option when it came to sitting for public exams.

“By virtue of it being the right of every child to sit for these public exams, every parent whether employed or unemployed should be able to afford examination fees.

“What we have now is a situation where education continues to become more and more expensive.

Another parent Ms Locadia Sabuta, a vendor, said it was better for her Sixth Form daughter to write the examinations when they were affordable, as she had no means of raising the required amount.

“I do not know where to start at the moment. It is painful to educate my daughter up to this level and then the last thing I do is fail to pay her exam fees,” she said.

She called upon the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture to use its prerogative to instruct that all candidates be registered and allowed to write exams while other payment logistics were being worked out.