Sunday News
22 December 2012
Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, has described the year 2012 as the best year for the country’s education sector in recent years.
Speaking to Sunday News on the sidelines of the official opening of a Conservation School at Antelope Park in Gweru recently where he was guest of honour, Senator Coltart said 2012 was the first year in recent years that the teaching calendar was not disturbed by teachers’ strikes.
He said such a development, among many other positives that can be drawn from the year, places 2012 as the best year for the education sector since the formation of the Unity Government in 2009.
“This year we did not lose a single teaching day owing to strikes and other disturbances of that kind to other years from 2007 when there were a lot of disturbances. This year is the first year that we did not have any strikes since the formation of the Unity Government and that reflects well on the sector,†he said.
Senator Coltart added that 2012 had also witnessed a significant increase in the number of O-level and A-level candidates, which he said was yet another positive that can be drawn from this year.
Although he was not in a position to give statistics to back his assertion, Senator Coltart also expressed concern at the continued decline in pass rates for Grade Seven examinations which he attributed that to the chaos that characterized the sector in the past years.
“This year we have also recorded a significant increase in the number of O and A-level candidates which is yet another positive to be drawn from the year.
However, we are worried that the Grade Seven examinations pass rate has continued to decline. The decline is rooted on the chaos we witnessed four to five years ago but we hope to see an upturn in the following years,†he said.
Senator Coltart said this year Government had also managed to achieve the one-student one-textbook ratio in both primary and secondary schools, with a total of 23 million text books having been distributed.
He said the books distributed in schools across the country so far catered for core subjects and the ministry was working on providing ancillary textbooks to enhance children’s knowledge in given subjects.
“So far we have distributed 23 million text books which have helped us achieve the one-child to one textbook ratio in both primary and secondary schools. We have also realized that there is need for the provision of other ancillary textbooks like readers in primary schools to enhance the child’s knowledge. Thus we have come up with a programme which will be rolled out next year to provide children with such ancillary textbooks especially in language subjects,†said Senator Coltart.
The education minister also lauded communities across the country who have helped improve the standards of education in the country through various activities.
“Communities have also responded well to the improvements. A number of communities have assisted us through rehabilitation and construction of classrooms, fencing of schools and drilling of boreholes. That is work we should commend and urge communities to continue with such work,†he said.
Senator Coltart also predicted that 2013 would be an even better year for the education sector with plans underway for Government to introduce a new environment education curriculum in schools.
He said the current curriculum that is used in schools was outdated and is being reviewed to incorporate new concepts such as conservation agriculture which is less hostile to the environment.
“2013 will be n even better year because we have a number of programmes lined up. Work is underway to review the current environment education curriculum which is out of date. The idea is to incorporate new concepts such as conservation farming which are believed to be friendly to the environment,†he said.
Meanwhile, Antelope Park in Gweru has launched a conservation school which is aimed at imparting environmental conservation knowledge to children.
Antelope Park Projects Manager Karen Armand told Sunday News that the school will cater for children aged between 11 and 12 years old who will attend the school during conventional school holidays.
She said the school, the first of its kind in the Midlands Province, will help children have appreciation of environmental conservation issues at a young age, with the aim of creating responsible generations.
Senator Coltart officially opened the school.