Sunday News
By Lulu Brenda Harris
4th October 2009
IN his tour of schools in Bulilima last Wednesday the 30th September 2009, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart came face to face with the brutal reality of decay in rural primary schools.
“The tour confirmed what I knew all along but it’s always shocking when you see the reality,†said Senator Coltart.
In all the primary schools visited, classrooms were roofless and without doors, the windows broken, the state of the toilets disgusting. There is a tremendous need to improve the dilapidating infrastructure.
The schools visited, Tjehanga Primary, Bambadzi Primary and Hingwe Primary lack proper buildings in the form of classrooms, have no writing equipment, and worse the teacher student ratio in some schools is one to 96.
“A survey which was done in the schools showed that the teacher pupil ratio is one to 96 and that is unacceptable. I will work with Provincial Education Directors (PEDs) to solve the problem affecting schools and make education the number one priority. We need to restore the profession of teaching to its past glory and restore community’s respect for teachers,†said Senator Coltart.
What is also of great concern is the tension between the school heads, teachers, the School Development Committees (SDCs) and the parents. The minister said there was a clear mistrust between these stakeholders and that could be one of the reasons why the schools are in that awful state.
“There is growing mistrust between parents who pay, teachers and SDCs. Parents don’t know how the levy money they pay is spent. Parents want to know how the money is spent,†said Senator Coltart.
It is clear that there is no communication between parents and the school authorities and that lack of communication has proved to be the beginning of the schools’ downfall.
“I encourage school heads and the SDCs to make information available about how money is used. I also want you to look at the composition of your SDCs. It’s very important that the SDC represents the whole parent body. The school heads must make available to parents a document relating to all fees so that parents can understand what is happening in the schools,†he said.
A classroom is supposed to be welcoming after all it is a second home from home but if it is empty, its walls bare, no chairs to sit on, no books to write on, it comes across as cold and it does not appeal to one who learns in it.
Education is a state of mind, one can digest information in an environment that is welcoming but if it is the opposite it impacts negatively on the student and teacher.
“We have to change our education system because it’s not been working. It’s no use for the children to go five days to school but get nothing as output,†Senator Coltart said.
Maybe before one talks about the classroom, one must mention the gruelling distance one has to walk in order to arrive at school. Schoolchildren walk long distances on roads that are even a nightmare for cars. They have to wake up before dawn in order to get to school on time then later on the sun sets before they are even home.
Some pupils say they get home around past eight to nine in the evening and they do that everyday.
“Bana bedu banofa nehala, banohwa muzila benda ngobe zwikolo kule nakanyi (Our children wake up before dawn to get to schools in time because their schools are far),†said Ms Laizah Ndebele.
It might be one of the reasons why there is a decline in the number of boys going to school as some prefer to cross the border into South Africa and Botswana to look for work.
Parents and the school authorities need to sit down and chart the way forward.
This might seem impossible considering the tempers that usually flare when they meet but a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
An SDC representative at Bambadzi Primary School said parents were not willing to pay school levies yet they expected the school to develop.
The Minister said one of the dilemmas faced by the ministry was that every child had a right to attend class yet on the other hand the school has to run.
“There is a provision that children must not be expelled for not paying levies then how can the school develop. This highlights the dilemma faced by the ministry. There is an obligation that children have to be educated yet on the other hand we have to make sure the schools have enough funds to run on,†he said.
If the government is to abide by that requirement, then parents must be willing to sacrifice for their children.
“School heads must not exclude the children but use all methods to make parents pay and parents I know you want the best for your children then you must be willing to provide for them,†said Senator Coltart.
He challenged parents to help maintain the schools as they are community institutions. “As parents I encourage you to treat your schools as community institutions. Treat your schools as you would your home. Within your community there are carpenters to help maintain the fabric of schools,†said Senator Coltart.
In an interview during a careers day held at Gwanda High School, which is also in Matabeleland South recently, the Headmaster, Mr Arthur Maphosa bemoaned the breakdown of infrastructure at the school.
“Our school was built in the year 1973, and ever since there has been no significant development, roads leading up to the school need urgent attention. the situation will be worsened by the approaching rain season,†said Mr Maphosa.
The school offers Advanced Level but there is a danger that A-level Science subjects could be struck off the curriculum, as the school does not have necessary facilities to teach the subjects.
A report compiled by the first post independence minister of education Mrs Fay Chung, former legislator Mrs Trudy Stevensons and Ms Sharai Chakanyuka titled The Rapid Assessment of Primary and Secondary Schools attributes the infrastructure situation to poverty in rural areas. The report says people in remote areas are poor and the majority cannot afford to pay levies, which can help in reviving the infrastructure.
“US$4 levy a term was unaffordable to the majority. Hence there was no money whatsoever for repairs,†says the report. This comes after an assessment of education in four provinces, which had a number of remote schools; Mashonaland East, Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland North.
Data from the four reports obtained through focus group discussions and site visits indicates the dilapidated state of primary schools. The report says the Rural District Councils — which were the official responsible authorities — appeared to have lost interest in these schools and were not providing any support whatsoever to the schools.
“Chitsungo Primary School in Mashonaland East had classrooms without doors and one without a roof. At Bubi Primary School in Masvingo classrooms comprised dilapidated pole and dagga blocks. Ndimimbili Primary School in Matabeleland North had support from UNICEF in 2003 for two new classrooms, and these were the only ones with furniture and in good condition. Somakonyane Secondary School in Matabeleland North had six classrooms, but was only using three. It was surprising to note that a fully functional primary school, Ndimimbili, with grossly inadequate infrastructure was a few hundred metres away from a half empty secondary school with unused classrooms,†says the report.
The primary schools visited had poor teachers’ houses. The teachers said they did not feel safe as doors could not be locked and the windows were broken.
“One teacher at Bubi Primary School was living in a roofless and doorless hut. There were no toilets for teachers and pupils in some of the schools visited, so they used the bush, creating a health hazard. The two houses that were available at Ndimimbili Primary School in Matabeleland North had to be shared by several teachers,†says the report.
Teachers at Bubi Secondary School in Masvingo were living in mud huts and six male teachers were sharing a single office room.The supply of textbooks in both primary and secondary schools is devastating.Books had not been purchased since 1999. In terms of furniture there was a general lack of equipment such as blackboards and chalk.
“In Mashonaland East, teachers had to take their children outside so that they could write on the ground. In Matabeleland North, except for the furniture provided by UNICEF, classrooms had little or no furniture, with pupils sitting on planks set on stones or on the floor. They had no writing places,†said the minister.
Despite all this parents have remained interested in the education of their children, as they have formed School Development Committees (SDCs).
“In Matabeleland North parents had eagerly gathered to meet the visiting team, as they valued the opportunity to speak to an authority on the situation at their schools.
However the parents did not understand what makes a good school as they were in constant battle with the teachers.
“In general parents did not understand the functions of their committee. Nor did they understand what constituted a “good†school: they judged a school to be good if teachers were present, as apparently there was a high degree of absenteeism from teachers. Parents wanted teachers who were frequently absent to be removed, but they had no power to do anything about it. There was apparent antipathy and even open antagonism between parents and teachers,†says the report.
A contributing factor to the bad conditions was lack of supervision. The ministry said all the remote schools reported lack of supervision that led to the high absenteeism and no disciplinary action was taken against the culprits.
This highlights the neglect of the remote rural schools and supervision at the highest level is required. The ministry has recommended that more varied forms of supervision must be devised.
“For example SDCs can be given the responsibility of checking on teacher and pupil presence and absenteeism, as this appears to be a very serious problem in all these schools,†says the report.
Therefore there is a great need to invest heavily in remote rural schools.
“Substantive promotions must be made expeditiously, with training programmes being instituted for the incumbents. A situation where only four out of 70 headships were filled in one district spells neglect and disaster. Supervision is essential, as it was apparent that these schools had been totally neglected for some years. The traditional forms of supervision requiring education officers travelling by car from the district office on very bad roads needs to be adjusted, more varied forms of supervision devised,†said the Minister.