Statement by Senator David Coltart
5 July 2011
Senator David Coltart, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Deputy Minister Lazarus Dokora and Permanent Secretary Dr. Stephen Mahere commission 59 vehicles worth$1,3 million to be distributed to districts by government.
The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, today commissioned 59 vehicles to be distributed to district education officers across the country. The vehicles, which were purchased using $1,3 million from government, will help strengthen the ministry’s capacity to supervise the education sector.
Speaking at the event – which was attended by senior Ministry staff, including the Deputy Minister, Hon. Lazarus Dokora, Permanent Secretary, Dr. Stephen Mahere, Principal Directors and other staff – Minister Coltart said: “We are meeting here today to commission these vehicles to highlight government’s commitment to rehabilitate the education sector. Many a times we meet for such occasions to thank donors and development partners for their support. However,today we are meeting to thank government for its commitment to education because the funds to procure these vehicles- $1,3million in total- are from government.â€
The minister thanked all staff members who worked hard for this day to come and expressed hope that citizens would rally behind government in its efforts to restore the sector. “We are here today in part because we believe it is important for citizens and tax-payers to know where their money is going, and about government’s efforts to strengthen the education sector.â€â€œThe Government of Zimbabwe has made the revival of the education sector an increasingly important part of its strategy for the country’s rehabilitation. To that end, we are working on a number of government initiatives and also with support from development partners. The disbursement of vehicles is part of our efforts to reinvigorate school governance and supervision. There has been a lot of lawlessness in the sector, in part because education officers did not have the necessary resources to supervise the system. But, now that we have vehicles,we hope that all education officers will be able to go into the remotest parts of the country to supervise schools and ensure that we provide a quality education. I was in Binga on Friday and was pleased to learn that the district has already received vehicles. Establishing an effective supervision system is imperative to help improve the quality of education. Ultimately, the beneficiaries of our efforts will be the millions school children from all social and economic backgrounds in Zimbabwe.â€