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.