Herald
1 February 2011
The shortage of specialist teachers in Matabeleland South is a cause for concern and Government should swiftly address the problem, a Cabinet minister has said.
Addressing delegates at a meeting organised by Bulawayo Agenda last Fri-day, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart said Matabeleland South had the biggest shortage of Science and Mathematics teachers.
“Over the years the province has been affected by a mass exodus of teachers in these subjects, who have been absorbed into the education system of neighbouring countries like South Africa and Botswana.
“Because of the geographic position of the province, teachers in those areas find it easy to cross the border to seek better jobs abroad.
“There is need, therefore, for the Government to look into the issue and ensure there is staff retention so that the quality of education can improve,†he said.
Minister Coltart said this had resulted in increased recruitment of temporary teachers, something that can compromise standards.
He said the Education Ministry had printed textbooks for indigenous languages but expressed concern over the lack of trained teachers for the subjects.
“For the first time, we have produced Grade One to Seven textbooks for minority languages.
“We already have Tonga, Kalanga and Venda and we are in the process of printing Sotho and Ndau.
“This is in recognition of the fundamental need to teach indigenous minority languages in our schools.
“The problem is that there are no teachers to teach these jobs.
“Even training colleges have a low enrolment of teachers from Matabeleland region and that makes it difficult to promote minority languages and have trained teachers from this region,†he said.
Minister Coltart said children learn better in their mother language and added that it was their right to be taught in that medium at school.
He called for an urgent review of teachers’ conditions of service.
Minister Coltart paid tribute to the Zanu-PF Government for bringing significant development in the education sector after independence.
“We recognise that for the first decade after independence, Zanu-PF achieved a lot in development of the sector.
“They produced what was the best education system in Africa as a whole. They managed to reverse the colonial segregatory policies on education and brought education for all.
“Sadly all that investment has been made for the benefit of other countries that have absorbed our skilled human resources and today our education system is facing a lot of challenges,†he said.
Minister Coltart said Government had identified five key areas for improving the education system.
These include improving teachers’ welfare, upgrading the learning environment, reviewing the curriculum, improving school management, and financing of poor but talented pupils.