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11 September 2010
A major distribution of school supplies began on September 8, 2010 across Zimbabwe
The initiative was organised by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and international donors to ensure that every primary school student received a textbook for all core subjects.
As many as 10 pupils currently share every text book: while 20 per cent of primary schools have no textbooks at all for English, mathematics or local languages.
All 5,575 primary schools in Zimbabwe is to receive the supplies thanks to support from the Educational Transition Fund (ETF), a multi-donor funding mechanism launched a year ago to mobilize resources for the education sector with a view to improving the quality of schooling for the country’s children, said UNICEF.
“This week children will go back to school with books and learning materials for the first time in years. It is a profound recognition that education is the foundation of Zimbabwe’s recovery,†said David Coltart, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture.
The distribution will see a total of 12,000 tonnes of school supplies, including stationery and 13 million textbooks, distributed in the next three months.
Some 20 per cent of the textbooks are being printed in Zimbabwe and the remaining in other countries in Southern Africa.
A supply chain will ensure that textbooks, stationery and other school supplies from the UNICEF distribution centre are distributed to 22 hubs across the country and further transported to every school, according to UNICEF.