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.