Financial Gazette
5 March 2009
By Njabulo Ncube
AFTER a year of industrial action, public schools burst into life on Monday following an agreement between government and the two unions representing teachers – the Zimbabwe Teachers Union (ZIMTA) and the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ). The Financial Gazette Political Editor, Njabulo Ncube (NN), sought an update on the situation in the education sector from David Coltart (DC), the Minister of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture. Excerpts below:
NN: In your last statement to the media after agreeing on a number of issues with teachers’ unions, you indicated that you expected things to return to normal at all schools by Monday. What was the position this Monday? Did teachers in both urban and rural areas report for duty as agreed?
DC: It seems the majority of schools opened in most towns and cities with teachers overwhelmingly returning to work. But due to difficulties in communication we had few incidents in rural schools where the response was very slow. However, the general response was good and we expect things to normalise as the week progresses.
NN: How many teachers returned to work and what is the ministry doing to ensure that it is now business as usual at all schools.
DC: I don’t have actual figures at the moment, but the response to our call to examination markers and teachers has been very positive. We have had long winding queues at Head Office and I am made to believe at other provincial offices as well, of teachers seeking admission. My first priority has been to get schools to open. They have opened and reports reaching me indicate there has been a lot of teaching during the first day and that there has been a lot of sprucing up of most schools which had been closed for so long. Most premises were dirty and had uncut grass, but this was being taken care of as the schools heeded the call by the government to open for the 2009 First Term. Having said that, I think it is prudent for me to say that short prospects remain gloom as supplies of teaching materials, among other things, remain critical although we have received generous donations from UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund). We also have a problem that there is a lot of catching-up to be done as far as teaching and learning is concerned. We can’t publicly pronounce that it is now business as usual as I believe it will take time to reach levels of education that Zimbabwe needs.
NN: There have been reports that some headmasters have been abusing the US$100 vouchers of teachers that have left the country and are cashing them for personal gain? What is the true position on this issue? Has the ministry noted any abuse of the voucher facility?
DC: I have received informal reports of this. It’s hard for us at Head Office to accurately know what’s going on until we get returns from the provincial heads. This process is still going on, but all I can say is that if that has been happening, it is tantamount to theft or fraud. The criminal law will be used in full force against all those found to be abusing the voucher facility.
NN: You are on record saying the March salaries for teachers will be determined at the next bargaining stage and the teachers’ unions have been demanding US$2, 300? Do you think the new government has the capacity to meet these demands?
DC: I met the two biggest teachers unions in the country, ZIMTA and PTUZ on Wednesday and the bargaining process will start immediately. I have noted their demands for US$2,300, but as I have said before it will be very nice for the government to pay them that amount in recognition of the contribution the profession has made and is making to the development of Zimbabwe. However, the tragedy is that the US$2,300 is beyond what government can afford. It is substantially above the regional average. In South Africa, for instance, teachers are paid between 8,000 rands and 10,000 rands a month, that’s my understanding but some teachers in the region outside South Africa, earn substantially less than that. We would really want to pay our teachers a very viable salary.
NN: You held a donors conference or meeting with potential donors? What came out of that especially regarding pledges both in cash and kind?
DC: The donor conference was well attended. UNICEF and others were in attendance. But what became clear to me is that most donor countries are sceptical about the Global Political Agreement. They are saying they need confidence-building measures in place, their respective governments are reluctant to fund the new government so long as political prisoners are still languishing in prisons, there is lack of rule of law, the fresh farms invasions, issues like that. In short, there have not been pledges in cash or kind after the meeting, but there is a lot of sympathy.
NN: While focus has been on public schools, there is also concern that some private schools are demanding US$2,300 for boarders, fees thought to be out of reach for most Zimbabweans.
DC: My main focus is not private schools, but public schools that teach most of our children. Having said that, I have been made aware of some of the outrageous fees charged by the private schools, but these have been put in detailed submissions justifying the fees. These schools need fees that allow them to survive the current harsh economic climate and also provide quality education and facilities, which are lacking in our public schools. I have made comparisons with private schools in South Africa and found out that they charge more than US$2,300. St Andrews College in Grahamstown, for example, charges far more than what our local private schools are demanding.
NN: As the new minister of education, what do you think can be done to improve the standards of education in public schools? We understand most schools are ill equipped and education offices have no computers, internet connection among other things?
DC: It is a fact that there is no internet even in my office as the Minister. Records are in shambles. That is why it is difficult for us to clearly know how many teachers have left the profession. In a broad sense, we need to recommend that the government needs to spend more on education. While we have the largest allocation in terms of the current budget presented by Minister Patrick Chinamasa, education in my view is grossly under-funded. We were allocated US$284 million for the whole of 2009, but my budget unveiled to potential donors for just four months was US$438 million. We need to pour a lot of money into education if we have to attain the 1980s and 1990s education standards, which made this country an envy of the rest of the world. In 1980, we created a Rolls Royce but we have not been able to maintain it until it crashed. What we now need to do is to rebuild it and put it back on the road in sublime condition.