VOA
By Peta Thornycroft
Harare
14 May 2009

This week in Harare the European Union hosted an environmental conference in Zimbabwe which organizers hope would start a multi-party conversation about land ownership and use. The issue continues to be at the center of the country’s political conflict.

EU ambassador Xavier Marchel, who has been the lead in the West’s uneasy relationship with Zimbabwe’s shaky government of national unity, was instrumental in organizing the conference.

The plan was to get Zimbabwe government officials to engage with western diplomats and each other about the sustainable use of land and natural resources.

Marchel even managed to persuade President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF to take part in discussions on how to rescue Zimbabwe’s devastated natural resources.

And while the language of government officials is usually muted, at the conference they uniformly made it plain that in the past few decades, Zimbabwe’s natural resources have been devastated.

Education Minister David Coltart did not mince his words, saying these resources have, in effect, been raped. “Massive deforestation, unrestrained poaching that has seen the decimation of much of our wildlife; unrestrained gold panning which has all but destroyed many of our river systems; the regular and deliberate veld fires that have set every winter and every spring,” said Coltart.

Coltart told the conference the impact of all of this was recently graphically demonstrated to him on a visit to the Matopos, one of the country’s top national parks.

“I took my family and guests for a drive through the Matopos National Park and we spent the entire day driving through the game reserve and the rest of the national park, and the entire national park had been burnt,” said Coltart.

Zimbabwe’s liberation war, which ended in 1980, was mainly about land ownership and the franchise for black Zimbabweans. After President Robert Mugabe came to power, his many critics argued that he was using land ownership reform as a means of patronage.

This criticism greatly intensified when he launched his chaotic land reform program following the emergence of the Movement for Democratic Change in 2000. The program saw more than 4,000 commercial farmers removed from their farms, and food production plummet.

Mandivamba Rukuni, a well known agricultural economist and advisor to the World Bank, told conference attendees that 15 years ago he tried to advise Mr. Mugabe about progressive land reform when he was chairman of Mr. Mugabe’s Land Reform Commission. He said his advice was ignored.

Rukuni added that securing property rights so that the majority of the people were the custodians of the environment was what he called “deceptively simple.” Property rights should be secured by the constitution.

Minister of State Gordon Moyo represented Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the conference and said the inclusive government knows that Zimbabwe’s current lack of agricultural production affected the whole economy including the communal areas, and that he knew the inclusive government was moving slowly to resolve the land conflict.

“The pace is slow, I know people are frustrated,” he said. “The people themselves out there in the rural areas are also frustrated by the slow, snail pace, of us attending to issues of productivity in the farms, both in the ex-commercial farms, commercial farms, in the communal land.”

Moyo, from the MDC, noted the current unity government is transitional, and consequently it is more complicated to get things done. Apparently alluding to officials in Mr. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, he said hazards and obstacles are often put in the way of progress. But he said, he and his party are determined to make it work.

“We shall not be frustrated out of the inclusive government,” said Moyo. “We are really determined to be part of it, to change it, to make it right, to make things work so that we can attend to poverty in the communal areas, re-capitalization of our industries, recovery of our economy, recovery of our agricultural sector and to make sure our country is back on its feet again.”

Moyo said that Zimbabwe’s agricultural production, its environment and natural areas are central to his country’s recovery. But he said Zimbabwe cannot begin the task of rehabilitation without the assistance and financial support from western governments.

“The new philosophy, the new world view of the inclusive government is to engage the world,” said Moyo. “We can talk about good ideas, but if you don’t get resources, if you don’t get support, it will be just good ideas that will be shelved somewhere and they will develop cobwebs without being implemented.”

Following the formation of the inclusive government 100 days ago, harassment of the few remaining white farmers escalated dramatically. Few will grow wheat this winter and by year’s end it is likely that millions of Zimbabweans will again need food aid. Communal farmers, who grow most of the staple food maize, say they are unable to farm nowadays as they do not get seeds and other inputs they need.

Financial Gazette
Thursday, 14 May 2009

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told the nation on May 1 that the government was broke. What he did not say was that the government was so broke that it could not even raise the US$3,1 million that is needed to release the results of the students who sat national examinations last year.
What a disaster!

Education Minister David Coltart seems to have done a commendable job to get teachers back to work. But of what use is that if students are going to sit examinations that no one will mark?
The failure by the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) to release Grade 7, Ordinary Level and Advanced Level results for last year is not just a national tragedy; it is an embarrassment to the nation.

How can a nation go about its daily business, come up with 100-day plans, short-term economic recovery programmes, the road to 2010, and a string of other fancy blueprints when it can lose an entire generation simply because it has failed – or has no plan – to raise US$3,1 million?

There is no problem with planning and looking ahead, but shouldn’t first things be done first? Let’s get the results out first. Why was there a rush to reopen schools before the examination results were out?
According to the Short-Term Emergency Recovery Programme, the government requires US$440 million to address the “immediate challenges” in the education sector. Can it raise this amount when it is struggling to raise US$3,1 million?

Credit lines for the country so far announced exceed US$800 million. Are these just for industry and commerce? How about services?

Maybe the failure by the government to get money to release the results is a wake up call for the nation to re-examine itself.

Over the past decade Zimbabweans have developed a dependence mentality. They have been conditioned to think that the government will provide solutions to all their problems. If the government is not able to, there are always donors ready to chip in.

Because it had presses at the ready to print any amount it wanted, the government has never admitted it was broke. That era is over. We are now in a new era, an era of openness.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai clearly showed this when he admitted that the government was broke. This was a very humbling statement for a man of his stature. No donor has so far come forward with the US$3,1 million that ZIMSEC needs. So, what should be done?

The government has no money. It gets its money from the people. So, why should the government not involve the parents of the affected children? They know how the delay has wrecked their lives and those of their children?

Would the government not be able to raise the US$3,1 million if it asked each parent to pay say US$1 for every child who wrote Grade 7, US$2 for each one who wrote Ordinary-Level and US$3 for those who wrote Advanced Level?

Would parents object to this? Certainly not, because the waiting has been too long and very painful! It is cheaper to get your child back into class than to keep him or her at home.

The figures could even be lower if ZIMSEC tells the nation how many children wrote examinations last year. The Financial Gazette was not able to get the figures over the past two days because of the bureaucracy involved.

There are also well-wishers who can help provided the appeal comes from the right people and not the government.

For years, there have been reports that more than three million Zimbabweans are in the diaspora. If each one contributed one greenback this would raise the amount required.

What should be of paramount importance to everyone is that the nation cannot be held to ransom over US$3,1 million. This is exactly what is happening.

Maybe the new government is not working as smoothly as it should. Maybe it is not working as a team, each trying to promote his or her own portfolio to build his or her profile because the “transitional arrangement” is not going to last.

We have people like Gorden Moyo, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office. Moyo is an experienced fundraiser who built Bulawayo Agenda to what it is today with branches in Gwanda, Plumtree, Hwange, Gweru, just to name but a few.

He was also instrumental in getting the ratepayers association to challenge the residents association. Would he not be able to raise that kind of money given the task?

Someone ought to do something. Our children will not look too kindly at us years from today when they realise that an entire nation was not able to raise US$3,1 million to get their results out so that they could proceed with their education.

Coltart has allowed pupils to proceed with their education but certificates like Ordinary Level are very important, more important that Advanced Level because even if you obtain a degree or degrees, employers will still want you to produce your Ordinary Level certificate.

Maybe those with the capacity and influence to deal with this niggling problem are not bothered to swing into action because they can always send their children to better schools outside the country. But how many are they and can these privileged few members of our society get the country working again? Certainly not!

The solution is for every well meaning citizen of this great nation to put aside personal interests and work out a solution that favours those in the majority. Only then can Zimbabweans start to entertain prospects of a revival not only in the education sector, but in the rest of the country’s economy.

The Herald
13 May 2009

Harare — EDUCATION, Arts, Sports and Culture Minister David Coltart has been selected to co-chair the constitution-making parliamentary select committee.

This means all the parties to the Global Political Agreement have now seconded representatives to co-chair the committee.

Zanu-PF recently appointed Chivi Central Member of the House of Assembly Cde Munyaradzi Mangwana while MDC-T nominated Nyanga North Member of the House of Assembly Mr Douglas Mwonzora.

The appointment of co-chairpersons is an interim arrangement meant to allow the principals to the GPA to consider whether it should be chaired by an independent person or not.

Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga confirmed the appointment of Minister Coltart by the MDC.

“We now have Minister Coltart co-chairing, that is as what it should be, because all political parties should appoint their representatives to co-chair the select committee,” said Minister Matinenga in an interview.

He said the select committee, which held its induction course in Bulawayo last week, should start its work in earnest soon.

“Thematic sub-committees should be identified and this is the responsibility of everybody and we need to get every stakeholders’ involvement from the beginning,” he said.

The select committee is expected to gather people’s views, convene an all-stakeholders meeting and subject the draft constitution to a referendum next year.

SW Radio Africa
By Lance Guma
11 May 2009

A week after the Ministry of Education averted a teachers strike by promising various incentives, civil service unions have issued a 7 day ultimatum to the government to also review their US$100 monthly allowances. Teachers were promised a review of their salaries, free education for their children and exemption from bank charges, among other benefits. The civil service unions are however unhappy at what they feel is a divide and rule tactic and say these concessions were made outside the normal negotiating forum for civil servants.

According to the Zimbabwe Standard weekly newspaper, civil servants representatives met in Harare on Friday and demanded a review of their salaries, in line with what the teachers have been promised. Jeremiah Bvindiri, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Public Service Association (PSA), said they had given the government up to the 15th May to resolve their concerns, or face a job boycott. ‘We take great exception in the divide-and-rule practice by government, where some sectors have decided to flout the rules of the National Joint Negotiating Council,’ the PSA said in a statement.

Interestingly, under sole ZANU PF rule the PSA has not led many general strikes against the government. Commentators have pointed out that the sudden willingness to strike, over allowances that are considerably better than what they used to earn before, could be construed as an attempt to undermine the MDC who are in charge of the Finance, Education and Civil Service Ministries. The same union kept quite during the days of trillion-percentage inflation for many, many months, before the unity government was in place. It has been suggested that after failing to manipulate teachers to go on strike last week, ZANU PF has now turned its attention to the civil service.

The re-opening of some schools, hospitals, gold mines, and the payment of US$100 monthly allowances to civil servants, have been viewed as some of the few successes of the coalition and critics believe Mugabe is trying to undermine all of this in his turf war with Tsvangirai. But the PSA, which is the umbrella body of all five public sector unions, tried to untangle themselves from this allegation by insisting they have been patient enough in waiting for the coalition government to work. In their statement they said they felt the coalition ‘is ignoring the machinery that is supposed to produce results.’

In another sign of the mess that has been created by ZANU PF, Senator David Coltart, the Education Minister, has expressed fears that millions of dollars worth of foreign currency may have been lost paying ghost teachers since February this year. Coltart said they have launched a probe which was necessitated by the fact that there were some shocking figures presented to government by the Salaries Services Bureau. They paid out US$100 allowances to 94 000 teachers, and yet teachers unions said they had around 60 000 members.

11 May 2009
The Zimbabwe Times

HARARE – Parliament has drafted in the third legislator to become joint chairperson of a recently established select committee which will see through the drafting of the first home-grown Constitution over the next 17 months.

Cabinet minister David Coltart was last week appointed to join Nyanga North legislator, Douglas Mwonzora, of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party and Zanu-PF’s Paul Mangwana, who represents Chivhi Central.

The move is an apparent attempt to replicate Zimbabwe’s compromise governing structure that has seen leaders of the country’s three biggest political parties leading a unity government.

Mwonzora and Mangwana, both lawyers, were appointed co-chairmen of the 25-member committee last month.

Coltart, the Minister of Education, Arts, Sports and Culture, and also a lawyer, is a senator with the smaller MDC led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.

In an interview with The Zimbabwe Times Sunday, Mwonzora said the committee had also identified Mangwe legislator Edward Mkhosi, also a member of Mutambara’s MDC, to become Coltart’s substitute.
Mkhosi would step in when Coltart is engaged in his ministerial duties.

Mwonzora defended the new appointment, saying Coltart was chosen, despite his busy schedule as a government minister, because the committee wanted to tap into his rich legal background.

The appointments are still temporary as President Robert Mugabe and his colleagues Tsvangirai and Mutambara, are still to decide on whether to appoint a non-legislator to lead the crucial process.

This follows recommendations by parliament last month for the three political leaders to second a non-member of parliament who shall head the committee.

But in the absence of such candidate, the tripartite chairing system would proceed with its duties.
The select committee shall be responsible for the setting up of sub-committees to be chaired by a member of parliament.

The sub-committees shall also draw representatives from the civic society to assist the select committee in performing its functions.

During its tenure, the select committee shall conduct public hearings over the making of a new constitution ahead of its findings being tabled before two successive all stakeholders’ conferences.

The drafting of the new constitution will be succeeded by a referendum not later than July 13, 2010.

Both Zanu-PF and the Tsvangirai-led MDC have seconded nine of their parliamentarians to the committee while the Mutambara-led MDC has three of its members in the committee.

One member has been taken from the chiefs’ council while the remaining three have been chosen by presiding officers, whose functions are to supervise and monitor the work of the select committee and sub-committees.

This shall be done through regular feedback meetings in order to ensure that they adhere to the time lines laid down in the September 15, 2008 inter-party political agreement.

Meanwhile, the committee has raised US$3 million, less than a third of the targeted sponsorship, from international donors to finance the exercise.

Although parliament is still to finalise its budget, Mwonzora said more than US$10 million would be required to see the successful completion of the process.

ZimEye.org
By Moses Muchemwa
May 10, 2009

Harare (ZimEye) – THE government of Zimbabwe has failed to raise US$4 million to pay 2008 public examination markers, the ZimEye has learnt. This has in turn plunged into doubt the completion of the marking process.

Secretary for Education, Sports, Arts and Culture, Dr Steven Mahere confirmed that his ministry was broke and could not fund the marking of the examinations. Earlier this year his senior, David Coltart refused to take a government bought Mercedes benz citing that his ministry is too poor to afford such luxury.

“We have no money to pay the markers and we actually owe them money. If we can get US$4 million today I guarantee you that in two weeks those result will be out,” Coltart’s Secretary, Mahere said.
He said the ministry was scouting for potential donors who might be willing to pay the markers.
“We are talking with the donors and we hope to get the money this month in order to pay the markers. They are now holding us to ransom because we have failed to fulfill previous promises,” he added.

The Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council ‘s ‘Ordinary’ and ‘Advanced’ level examination script markers are still said to be unpaid.

The teachers were promised USd1 per script.

“We call on the schools to use a performance based approach when it comes to enrolling pupils for form 1 as well as the Advanced level. The process is already going on around the country and we hope they bear with us as we finalise the marking process,” noted Mahere.

The country’s education system is facing collapse due to mismanagement in the past 29 years under President Mugabe’s administration. David Coltart’s ministry has maintained its desperate cry for financial relief but to no avail.

Sunday News
News Editor
10 May 2009

THE Ministry of Education Sports, Arts and Culture requires US$4 million to finalise the process of marking last year’s public examinations, a senior Government official revealed last Friday.

The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture, Dr Steven Mahere, disclosed in an interview with an online publication that the marking of scripts had been completed, but the final grading was yet to be done.

“We have no money to pay the markers and we actually owe them. “If we can get US$4 million today I guarantee you that in two weeks those results will be out,’’ said Dr Mahere.

He said the ministry was still negotiating with potential donors who might be willing to pay the markers.
“We are talking with the donors and we hope to get the money this month in order to pay the markers. They are now holding us to ransom because we have failed to fulfil previous promises,’’ said Dr Mahere. He however, declined to disclose the name of the donors.

The Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council’s Ordinary and Advanced Level examination script markers are still said to be unpaid despite Minister Senator David Coltart’s assurances last month that it would take UNICEF a few days to process payments. The teachers were promised US$1 per script.

Dr Mahere said the Ministry was in a quandary and had to come up with ways of ensuring enrolment of Lower Sixth Form students.

“We call on the schools to use a performance-based approach when it comes to enrolling pupils for Form One as well as the Advanced Level. The process is already going on around the country and we hope they bear with us as we finalise the marking process,’’ said Dr Mahere.

The teachers who had agreed to mark some scripts are yet to be paid. Some teachers are now accusing the Government of taking them for granted and promising them things they never fulfil.
The Government managed to avert a potentially devastating yet again educators’ strike during the second term.

The teachers’ unions in Zimbabwe — Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA) — had negotiations with the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture and successfully brokered a deal for teachers to go back to work as the Government looked into their problems. The Government agreed among other things to allow teachers’ dependents in state schools to be exempt from paying school fees, while banks were asked not to charge commission on civil servants allowances.

The teachers, according to ZIMTA president, Mrs Tendai Chikowore, want a basic pay of 15 000 rand per month, which some players in the education sector say is way above what even economic powerhouses in Africa like South Africa are paying their teachers.

The Standard
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE AND GEORGE MADEGA
9 May 2009

THE Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) last week fired all its casual workers after they abandoned the processing of last year’s Grade VII examinations following an acrimonious dispute over pay.
The labour dispute, the latest hurdle for the beleaguered examinations body, has reportedly put paid to hopes the 2008 Grade VII results will be released anytime soon.

They were reportedly responsible for transcribing the results, a tedious process that takes weeks to complete, sources said.

Sources said it would be a “miracle” if the results are released because of the confusion caused by the dispute.

This has also disrupted the processing of Form IV and VI results, which have already been delayed.

Workers reportedly downed tools after the Ministry of Finance told them their salaries for April, which they had not received by last week, were released on time.

“There was a serious confrontation when the Zimsec management confirmed that indeed the salaries had been released by Treasury but there were no satisfactory answers why they had been delayed and workers not paid,” said a senior official at the examinations’ body.

All the 91 workers were immediately shown the door and replaced by another batch that was said to be still familiarising itself with the marking process.

Insiders said as a result of the chaos candidate numbers, marks and names of students for the Grade VII examinations were “so mixed up” that it was “impossible” to match the candidate to the marks.
“Grade VII results are in such shambles that there are no prospects of them ever coming out,” said one source.

“As we speak, the processing of the results has come to a standstill.”

The sources said unqualified staff such as security guards, drivers, receptionists, clerks and secretaries, were employed to mark the papers after teachers refused to do so due to poor remuneration.

The problems have also affected the processing of “O” and “A” level results, which Zimsec spokesperson Ezekiel Pasipamire had promised last week, in time for the start of the second term.

Zimsec director Happy Ndanga confirmed that the temporary workers had been fired following a salary dispute.

“These were temporary workers whose contracts had expired,” he said.

“We told them to go home and come and collect their money when we have it because we did not have it ready then.”

But he had no idea when the examinations results would be released.

“I can’t tell because we have not had electricity for some days now,” he said. “We are so computerised that the absence of power has seriously affected us.”

He defended the use of unqualified staff in the marking of examinations saying: “They were not marking but transferring marks.

“We call it clerical marking, where you don’t have to know the context but just tick or cancel.”
However, the sources warned the problems at Zimsec would have a serious impact on the credibility of the examinations system in the country.

In March, the government instructed schools to enroll students using mid-year examination results as it became apparent Zimsec had no capacity to release the results on time.

The new Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart had promised to mobilise international donors to fund the marking of the examinations. However, educationists described the move to allow students to proceed to another level without the proper qualifications as “a recipe for disaster”.

This was on the back of reports by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) that only 20% of the country’s children attended school last year following a prolonged strike by teachers.

“Form 1 students were enrolled on the basis of mock results,” said another Zimsec official.

“Given that there was hardly any teaching, there is no guarantee that the Grade VII pupils ever sat for any credible tests.”

He said even Lower Sixth students were enrolled on the basis of the “same mock” examinations and it was difficult for students to pursue “A” level studies in subjects they were not even sure they passed.

“It won’t be surprising to discover that some or most Lower Sixth students are reading subjects they failed dismally at “O” Level,” he said.

Meanwhile, Coltart admitted that the examination process was in a shambles, a situation which he said was worsened by Zimsec’s financial crisis.

“The marking of the November 2008 examinations has been done, however the grading has not been completed because we don’t have funds,” Coltart said.

“November results are supposed to be out before the June exams are written because June exams are usually supplementary exams for those who would have failed in November.”

He said there was “no doubting that the integrity of the system has been damaged”.

Radio VOP
May 7 2009

HARARE,- The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe says close to 35 percent of teachers failed raise money to return to their respective posts when schools opened this week.

Teachers this week called off a strike despite their wage demands not being met. Education Minister David Coltart said the government had no money to raise their salaries, but he had agreed to help teachers by giving their children free schooling.

Teachers’ groups said they accepted the government was struggling for funds and needed time to raise revenue. Teachers are paid a USd 100 allowance per month but unions wanted four times as much.

In an interview with RadioVOP, Takavafira Zhou, PTUZ president, said the majority of teachers had anticipated an industrial action and used the little money they had put aside for travel expenses and on other equally important commitments.

“I think about 35 percent of teachers have not managed to go back to their respective schools. The reality of the situation is that the majority of the teachers had entered into an industrial mood and had spent the little money that they had on other important commitments.

“When we then said teachers must go back to work following promises by donors that they would at least find something to enable us to make ends meet, a number of teachers were caught unawares, their plight is genuine and they have no money and all we can do as their representative organisation is appeal to teachers to continue looking for money to return to their respective schools.

Zhou also urged the responsible authorities not to adopt a hardline stance and punish teachers for their failure to raise money to cover travel expenses.

“Government must accept the authenticity of teachers’ plight. Industrial action may not necessarily bring something, as the government was inflexible and irresponsible, claiming that it has no money. We are hopeful that teachers still have an interest in carrying out their work; we hope that the majority of the teachers will manage to go back to their stations.

“What is doubtful is whether the donor community will provide the resources that they had promised because in the event that the donor community prevaricates and fails to perhaps to do something to lessen the plight of teachers by June, it will be difficult for those teachers who have returned to remain at those schools. So we are only hopeful that something meaningful will trickle to the teachers by June failure of which it will be difficult to assure donors and the nation that schools will remain open,” Zhou said.

Financial Gazette
Thursday 7 May 2009

ELLIS Robins Boys High School in Harare resembles the remnants of a long, forgotten ghost community in an old township. Burst sewer pipes have gone for weeks without being fixed; the school’s fish pond and swimming pool among other infrastructure at the school, all ceased functioning years ago.

The concrete precast wall and ceiling inside the school’s buildings are crumbling, while some of the toilets are in bad state. Many doors have no locks and the broken windowpanes sum up the deteriorating state of the school.

Ellis Robins, in the low-density suburb of Mabelreign, once an elite institution, is now a pale shadow of its former glory.

The state of affairs at this government-owned school is a microcosm of the situation at most of the country’s State-run educational institutions as Zimbabwe’s education system continues to crumble.
Analysts this week said the government needs a paradigm shift to save the educational sector from further demise in the face of myriad of challenges the country is grappling with, underlined by poor remuneration for teachers.

Harare lawyer Terence Hussein said the government must realise that it can no longer afford to run schools as it used to and should hand them over to communities, especially those in low-density areas.
“They have been in this revolutionary mindset that we are going to provide education to the people without counting the costs,” said Hussein. “What is needed is a paradigm shift. Those areas (communities surrounding the schools) must not only be encouraged, but required to take charge of educational facilities, including paying teachers’ salaries.”

Hussein added that the current wholesale funding of education by government results in two undesirable things: heavy taxation and dependence on donor funding.

“I say undesirable because heavy taxation makes Zimbabwe an unattractive investment destination while reliance on donor funds exposes the country to the whims of the donors,” he said.
As the country’s education woes continue to fester like a gapping wound, key players in the sector are pinning their hopes on external international assistance to survive the storm.

In an interview with The Financial Gazette this week, the president of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, Tendai Chikowore, said the association held meetings with donors and there were encouraging signs that prompted the association to call-off a planned strike.

“We met donors together with the Ministry (of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture) and it was positive. Based on that, we realised that it is better for teachers to go back to work,” said Chikowore.
Chikowore said it was encouraging that such organisations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund had promised to work on a country appeal programme to rescue the nation’s education sector from the throes of collapse.

Although Education Minister David Coltart this week announced a drastically reduced provisional fees structure, Chikowore said there is need for further discussion since some of the provisions apply only to government-run schools.

Fees at primary schools in high-density and low-density suburbs have been pegged at US$5 and US$10 respectively while children attending high-density and low-density secondary schools will respectively pay US$10 and US$20 with teachers’ children being exempted from paying the new fees.
Political scientist John Makumbe, however, warned that the government must have a serious re-think on its priorities because as long as the outstanding issues arising from the Global Political Agreement (GPA) remain unresolved, donors will remain on the fence.

The GPA was signed last September between President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s larger faction of the Movement for Democratic Change and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara’s MDC-M.

“The solution is for (President) Mugabe to resolve the outstanding issues. Right away, donor agencies will say there is meaningful progress and assist. Without that no one will ever come to our aid,” Makumbe said.

Despite the temporary understanding between the teachers and government to avert a looming strike, other analysts said for the education sector to fully recover, what needs to be done goes beyond the issue of salaries, citing other working conditions and the need for adequate learning materials.

This week Amnesty International said some teachers it interviewed had expressed fears that brutalities meted on them in the lead-up to last year’s polls still traumatise them and believe the atrocities would recur in future elections.

It added that in order to achieve stability in the education sector, the aggrieved teachers should receive compensation.

“Those found to be responsible should be brought to justice and victims should receive redress. Such measures would be a first step to ensuring the safety of the teachers and improving the environment in which they are working,” the rights group said.

Takavafira Zhou, the president of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, said the poor working environment and the uncertainty in the education sector is illustrated by the fact that during the past eight years, 75 000 teachers left the country but only 500 have returned since the formation of the inclusive government.

He also blamed the slow rate of return of teachers to bureaucracy such as the requirement that those returning must be approved by the permanent secretary, Steven Mahere.

Blessing Vava the spokesperson of the Zimbabwe National Students Union said even though a strike has been averted, much more needs to be done besides the issue of salaries.

“There is need to improve the curriculum, laboratories and infrastructure. The infrastructure is dilapidated and there are no books,” said Vava.