Newsday
By Khanyile Mlotshwa
30 November 2010
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart says government has resolved to publish textbooks for secondary schools through the Education Transition Fund (ETF).
Coltart told NewsDay the decision was made last week.
“As the distribution of textbooks to primary schools rounded up, a decision was made last week to proceed with printing books for secondary schools,†he said.
“This will initially involve the purchase of textbooks in five subjects with delivery anticipated by mid-2011.â€
Coltart said money to fund the project had been acquired and he was optimistic the project would kick off in earnest.
“There has been a delay in this exercise caused by insufficient funds which have however now been secured,†he said.
Through the ETF the ministry printed textbooks for primary schools in a move meant to improve the pupil-to-textbook ratio and restore basic education for all to Zimbabweans.
With the help of international partners, through the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), Zimbabwe secured $30 million for the production of primary school textbooks.
However, the minister did not reveal how much had been secured for the secondary education textbooks. Coltart said the ETF received a lot of financial support from Scandinavian countries who have been generous towards the country.
At the beginning of the year, Coltart said the funds would be used to print over 9 million primary school textbooks for the country’s 5 000 primary schools while secondary textbooks would be done later.
The primary school textbooks targeted core subjects which are Mathematics, English, Shona and Ndebele as well as Environmental Science.
Part of the fund was also set aside for braille textbooks for the visually-impaired students.
He said after printing the secondary school textbooks, the ministry will still focus on other subjects beyond the core subjects of Mathematics and English.