Zimbabwean
By Gift Phiri
30 October 2010
The 13 million textbooks donated by the UN Children’s Fund to revive the struggling public school system are not getting to schools in rural areas, a legislator told Parliament last week.
Mutare South constituency representative Fred Kanzama told the House during question and answer time that two months after the launch of the book distribution programme, schools in rural areas were yet to receive the books. “From the day the launch was done …. there are no books that have been delivered and we want to know what is the position relating to that issue?” Kanzama said in questions directed to Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, who was standing in for Education Minister David Coltart.
Mutambara said the most appropriate person to discuss in detail the question raised by Kanzama was Coltart, but added that the book were in the country and the only challenge was how to get them to schools. The books were supposed to have been distributed to the 5 500 public primary schools across the country by the end of last month.
Mutambara said: “The challenge now is logistics, how to move the books from the warehouses to the schools which is work in progress. We have managed to solve a major problem for our primary schools.” Kanzama asked if he could make arrangements for the delivery of the books to his constituency, to which Mutambara advised him to liaise with the ministry of education.
Teachers say distribution of the textbooks to schools could go a long way in helping restore Zimbabwe’s public education sector as one of the most competent in Africa. The books cover the four major subjects in primary schools, English, Mathematics, Environmental Science and either Shona or Ndebele