SW Radio Africa
By Lance Guma
14 December 2009
Education Minister David Coltart this weekend broke new ground by engaging Zimbabweans in the diaspora via a teleconference call. The teleconference was organized by the Council for Zimbabwe, a United States based group working to ‘serve the humanitarian and development needs of Zimbabwe by leveraging the expertise and resources of the Diaspora.’
Zimbabweans from such diverse countries as Denmark, Canada, South Africa, United Kingdom and others were invited to call a particular number which put them in the teleconference with the Minister, who was in South Africa at the time.
Dominic Muntanga, a founder member of the Council for Zimbabwe, said Saturday’s teleconference was a non-political platform that allowed the Minister to lay out his vision for education in the country while allowing the diaspora to ask how they can help achieve that vision.
It began with Muntanga laying out what his organization does and then Coltart spoke about the key issues around developing the education sector. He spoke about curriculum development and the setting up of Academies of Excellence in each of the country’s provinces.
Callers from the diaspora then asked questions about how they could help achieve some of these goals and what the education ministry’s budget was. One caller pointed out that when Coltart took over the ministry the budget for 3 million children was about US$2 million, only 66 cents per child. Coltart was also asked if he could facilitate legislation that would make imported educational products duty free.
Coltart responded by saying there was no need to introduce such legislation, as it was already in place. He said under the Private Voluntary Organizations Act it was possible for groups outside the country to send books and other equipment into the country on charitable grounds. He explained that the Ministry of Education could also help groups clear their donations with the customs authority.
With the Mugabe regime maintaining a stranglehold on the media, the use of new media technologies are already beginning to make their mark in Zimbabwe, opening up new frontiers for communication.