SW Radioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
20 October 2009
A decision by the Ministry of Education to extend the deadline for pupils who had failed to raise fees for this year’s exams did not help, because most schools did not get the relevant government circular. Education Minister David Coltart issued a statement saying parents and guardians of affected pupils could make arrangements with schools and regional ministry offices to pay the exam fees in installments, until January 31, 2010. The arrangement was granted by government with the provision that the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) could withhold results until the fees were fully paid.
On Tuesday Newsreel learnt that the majority of schools claimed they had not received the relevant circular from government granting the extension and concessions. Oswald Madziva, the Programmes and Communications officer for the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), told us most school administrators made it clear they don’t take instructions from the media, where the announcement was made, and could only implement such directives if they had physically received the circulars from the Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry. So this extension turned out to be ‘virtual’ and ‘did not touch ground to benefit students,’ Madziva said.
It’s not clear what role the Permanent Secretary had in the delay to send out the circulars but all permanent secretaries are aligned to ZANU PF. The appointment of permanent secretaries to run the ministries was one of the contentious issues between the MDC and ZANU PF in the unity government. The MDC gave in, over the argument that they ‘were career civil servants qualified to do the job’ and opportunities would arise in the future for MDC candidates. So the MDC allowed Mugabe to appoint them all.
The preparations for exams this year have been dogged by a myriad of problems, including a strike by workers at ZIMSEC who were demanding salary increases from US$115 to US$400. The strike was later called off last week Thursday after a meeting of ZIMSEC management and workers in which they were promised salary increases up to US$270 per month. The main problem for exams this year however has been the cost of fees. At US$10 per subject for ‘O’ levels and US$20 for ‘A’ levels, most pupils have not been able to register.
According to ZIMSEC only 139 000 out of 380 000 students have registered.