British Foreign Office Website
www.fco.gov.uk
20 July 2010
Lord Howell, Foreign Office Minister met with David Coltart, Zimbabwe’s Minister for Education, Sports, Arts and Culture this morning.
The Ministers discussed the progress that has been made since the formation of the Inclusive Government. Zimbabwe still suffers from rule of law abuses and economic difficulties, but Lord Howell congratulated the reformers, including David Coltart, on the tangible improvements their efforts had brought to the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans. He assured Minister Coltart of the UK’s continuing assistance to help bolster reform and achieve their aims of a stable, democratic and prosperous Zimbabwe.
A former human rights lawyer and an MDC-M Senator in Zimbabwe’s Inclusive Government, Mr Coltart has been instrumental in turning around the education sector, encouraging 15,000 teachers to return to work so that schools could re-open and Zimbabwe can regain its reputation as education leaders in Africa.
The UK has helped the Department for International Development along with other donors provided funding so that every primary school child in the country will have a full set of core school books. DFID support has also helped to ensure that over 600,000 orphans and vulnerable children will be able to attend school this year.