Statement by David Coltart
28 February 2013
Regrettably the Herald has distorted the Ministry of Education’s policy  and what I said regarding deployment of teachers during the referendum by publishing a wholly misleading headline today. At no time did either I or any member of my staff state that there would be a total ban on teachers participating in the Referendum. What we have said is that there should be minimal dispruption of the education sector and to that extent qualified teachers should only be used as a last resort to ensure that as many of them as possible remain as long as possible at their posts in their classrooms.
In a letter released by Permanent Secretary Mrs Constance Chigwamba on the 25th February 2013 our policy position is stated clearly and I quote:
“MOESAC will only be able to release members for the referendum to meet the requirements of ZEC at provincial and District levels. It is important that Education service delivery is not compromised and as such a staggered approach to the release of education personnel should be adopted to minimise impact on teaching and learning. In this regard releases should start with non teaching staff ending with teaching staff for the voting process. In the interest of service delivery the Ministry should be operational during the period under consideration. This implies that there should be minimal disruption to lessons.”
We cannot afford the remainder of the term being disrupted with thousands of qualified teachers leaving their posts to be trained. The recently released O level results are a reminder that the education sector remains in crisis and children’s education remains under threat. Accordingly it is in our national interest not to disturb their education any more as far as possible.
We recognise that it may be inevitable that some teachers will have to utilised but our plea is that civil servants be drawn from other Ministries first, that we utilise non teaching staff from MOSEAC second, that we utilise unqualified teaching staff third, and that we only draw down on qualified teaching staff as a last resort.
I hope that the Herald will set the record straight.
Senator David Coltart
Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture
28th February 2013