News Day

By Veneranda Langa

15 May 2013

THE Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment 20 Bill yesterday passed through Senate with the President of the Senate Edna Madzongwe announcing that all the 75 senators present had voted affirmatively for its passage.

Today, the constitution Bill returns to the House of Assembly and needs a two-thirds majority (144 MPs) to pass it after two more amendments were introduced during the Committee Reading Stage at Senate by Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs minister Eric Matinenga.

In his Second Reading speech of the Bill, Matinenga said the new Constitution would introduce a new dispensation and transparency, for example, on the issue of appointment of judges.

“What is important is that appointment of judges will now be done in an open and transparent manner,” said Matinenga.

“Never again should the people of Zimbabwe feel there was selective persecution by the Attorney-General’s Office as the new charter has dealt with those issues,” he said. Zanu PF National Chairman Simon Khaya Moyo said the new constitution was “homegrown and smells of no external ingredients”.

“The voice of the people is the voice of God and who can then challenge God. The people have spoken. The Lancaster House Constitution which had been the supreme law for 33 years was a compromised document and it is now destined for burial and there will be no mourning period for it,” he said. Legal Affairs Secretary in the MDC David Coltart said his cautionary remarks were that never should Zimbabweans allow unfettered power to an individual.

“Separation of powers in this Constitution is important because constitutions are designed for the future. Devolution of power is also an important feature because some areas in the South Western parts of our country had been underdeveloped and devolution brings about equity,” he said.

Coltart said precautions that have to be taken were to ensure the sizes of bodies created were not too big for the fiscus.

“We need to ensure we do not make devolution of power so expensive to undermine the ideals behind it,” he said.

News Day

By Nqobile Bhebhe

14 May 2013

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe on Sunday said the San community in Tsholotsho are resisting integration with neighbouring communities, saying they were refusing to get more civilised.

Speaking at a memorial service for the late Vice-President John Nkomo, who succumbed to cancer in January this year, Mugabe said the Landa John Nkomo High School still had little appeal among the San.

“I used to ask John: ‘How are you treating them?’ He would say: ‘They look after my cattle, but we have tried to get them to the culture of going to school and getting more civilised, but some of them continue to resist’,” he said.

“When he formulated the idea of the secondary school, I still asked: ‘Will you have room for the Bushmen?’ He said: ‘Yes, yes, yes of course’.”

Mugabe said the community still liked the “bush and meat more than we do”.

“But last night (Saturday) when I met Jabu (Nkomo’s son), he was telling me that they are facing challenges in getting some children from the Bushmen to attend school. It is still a difficult exercise,” he said.

“He (Jabulani) said the number is four or five. So they still want to just look after cattle and be in the bush. They have a culture which is very resistant to change.”

Mugabe said the government had a responsibility of treating the Bushmen equally with other tribes.

“We know in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa they have a similar problem of the Bushmen, but they are trying,” Mugabe said.

“John used to talk much about them. When they are together, they like slaughtering cattle and like meat more than we do and we should make sure we acculturate them.”

The San people, also known as the Bushmen or Basarwa, inhabit remote areas of southern Africa, particularly Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Recently, Education minister David Coltart called for urgent government intervention to address what he called the marginalisation of the San community.

“It is a marginalised community and we will have to assist them with policy implementation to address their problems on education,” Coltart was quoted saying after meeting San community leaders in Bulawayo.

 

The Herald

By Sharuko

10 May 213

One thing for sure, and it’s irrelevant whether one liked him or not, Alexander Chapman Ferguson was a special breed, a one-off, and as we say goodbye to him, either hurt that he is gone or happy that we have finally seen the back of him, we should draw comfort that we were lucky to have lived in an era that saw this great magician at work.

I was a Form Three schoolboy when Alex Ferguson became manager of Manchester United. My daughter Mimi, born exactly 10 years after Fergie became a Red Devil, is a Sixth Form schoolgirl as the great Scot walks away.

Back in those days there was no SuperSport, our connection to live pictures of the English top-flight league only came via a programme called Big League Soccer on ZTV, and Merseyside was the capital of the game, a thriving football city where our icon, Bruce Grobbelaar, plied his trade.

So much has changed since those gloomy days of the old English First Division, where hooliganism was rife, players drank as much beer as the fans, including someone called Five-Bellies who became a drinking pal of Paul Gascoigne, and would not leave the pub until all his five reservoirs were full with alcohol.

But the more that things have changed is the more they have stayed the same.

When Ferguson arrived at Old Trafford on November 6, 1986, the teams occupying the three bottom places on the table of the English top-flight league were, in that order, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea who were rooted at the bottom.

When Ferguson announced on Wednesday that he was leaving his job, the same three clubs, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea were bundled together, in exactly the same order, as was the case 26 years ago.

The only difference was that, while they occupied the bottom three places on the table, when Ferguson walked into Old Trafford, the three clubs now occupied the top three positions on the table as the great Scot walked away.

When Fergie arrived at Old Trafford, it was just two months before United marked the 20th anniversary of the last time they had lifted the league championship in 1967 when they finished four points clear of Nottingham Forest, and just a year from their European Cup victory that helped wipe away tears from the Munich tragedy.

Everton won the league championship, in Ferguson’s first season in charge of United, and in the year that the great Scot finally decided to walk away from the dug-out at Old Trafford, the Toffees are playing a big part of the puzzle by providing a coach, David Moyes, to succeed his fellow Scot.

In January 1990, with United struggling badly in the league after six defeats in eight games and a 1-5 thrashing at rivals City, the writing was on the wall for Fergie and a loss, in an FA Cup third round tie away to high-flying Nottingham Forest, would certainly have ended his stay at Old Trafford.

Then 20-year-old Mark Robins scored a priceless goal, which won United the match and changed the course of English football history, and three months later the Red Devils secured their first trophy under Ferguson, the FA Cup, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Ferguson’s impact on Manchester United has been awesome and for him to keep winning so much, both at home and on the continent for so long, is remarkable but what I found incredible was his ability to adjust, as the times changed, and to build different teams that would rise to meet the brutal challenges.

If Eric Cantona was the catalyst of the dynasty that Fergie built, he ensured it would not be destroyed once the Frenchman had left, at the young age of 30, and he kept finding pillars on whom to build his teams – Peter Schmeichel, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Noone was bigger than the club and the same way the stars came is the same way they went.

But the indomitable spirit, a defining character of a manager who never believed the game was lost and always told the globe this was the best club in the world, remained and there were trophies, a lot of them, and we had days of our lives whose memories will still be with us when we breathe for one last time.

Such was Ferguson’s impact that, in the last 22 seasons, Manchester United never finished outside the top three, in the league championship, and only on three occasions did they finish outside the top two, which means they have either been champions, or runners-up, in 19 of those seasons.

Fergie has had this incredible ability to reinvent himself, even at the ripe age of 71, to face the new challenges of the day, and to understand, and possibly appreciate it, you need just to realise that 17 players, in the current Manchester United squad that he turned into champions this year, were not even born when he became manager of this team.

Ferguson’s impact at Old Trafford should not be seen just in terms of trophies won but also the way that he was the catalyst who helped turn Manchester United from a club that was loved by the world, in the wake of the Munich tragedy, to one that became a global corporate brand as powerful, and as visible, as Coca-Cola.

Four years before Fergie’s arrival at Old Trafford, United signed their first shirt sponsorship deal with Sharp and was worth £500 000 but by the time the Red Devils signed their next shirt sponsorship, with Ferguson’s revolution well and truly underway in 2000 with Vodafone, it was worth £30 million, AIG came in September 2006 with £56,5 million, Aon came with £80 million in 2010 and General Motors with £559 million, over seven years, from next season.

Nike’s £302,9 million pound deal runs until 2015.

While Fergie was at United, there were 25 different coaches at both Real Madrid and Italian giants Inter Milan, 18 at Ajax Amsterdam, 17 at Bayern Munich, 15 at Juventus and 14 at Barcelona and AC Milan.

Ferguson ran his race, and certainly did more than win trophies, he left a legacy for football because he made the position of coach a very powerful one in the game, he helped his fellow professionals gain the respect that they deserve and he left a template for other clubs to follow if they want to have long-term marriages with their coaches.

His initial mission was to make United successful and his greatest challenge was “knocking Liverpool right off their f****** perch” and he did that but in recent years it was clear that Ferguson had evolved from just being a United coach to a global symbol of the game, which was attractive to the eye, and Sepp Blatter agreed and gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award.

When Ferguson arrived at Old Trafford, he was our man as Manchester United, but along the way he evolved into a global football ambassador and while his mission remained to make us successful, it was clear that he had become something bigger than that, bigger than training sessions, bigger than confrontations with referees, bigger than buying and selling players and bigger than plunging into disputes with other clubs.

United will miss Ferguson, no question about that, but football will also be poorer without the fiery Scot because, after staying for so long and winning so much, he had become a big part of our game, a big part of its sights and sounds, and you have a generation of 27-year-old Man U fans, who knew no other coach than him, suddenly having to adjust to the reality of seeing a new man in the dug-out.

One thing for sure, and it’s irrelevant whether one liked him or not, Alexander Chapman Ferguson was a special breed, a one-off, and as we say goodbye to him, either hurt that he is gone or happy that we have finally seen the back of him, we should draw comfort that we were lucky to have lived in an era that saw this great magician at work.

It’s all that matters.

As World Football Celebrates We Still Suck In Darkness

The global football family has been toasting the greatness of Ferguson this week, as the great Scot walks away from the game, and all the stuff that has been coming out in newspapers, magazines, websites, radio and television has been pretty positive and created some beautiful sights and sounds.

But while the world has been dancing to the Fergie beat, in Africa something horrible happened in Lubumbashi this week that provided a reminder that the game, on this continent, remains ages behind what is happening in Europe and the spirit of Fair Play exits only in the football books of the associations and the booklets of statutes that come from Fifa.

Ferguson won two Champions League titles, both in dramatic fashion, needing Teddy Sheringham and Ole Solsjaer to score twice in time added on to beat Bayern in ’99 and needing John Terry to slip and miss the decisive penalty, which could have won the game for Chelsea in Moscow, to grab the second.

By his admission, Fergie under-achieved on the continental front but that is the name of the game, others were better in other years, he was unlucky on certain occasions, it just didn’t go according to plan on certain days and the referee made a bad, and defining call, on other days.

But in the week that Fergie said goodbye, we had that awful situation in Lubumbashi where TP Mazembe, former champions of Africa, tried to manipulate the playing field, using all sorts of dirty tactics, to try and gain an unfair advantage over Orlando Pirates in their Champions League tie.

Incredibly, we had referees who tried to aid the TP Mazembe cause and virtually all the decisions went to the home side, two controversial penalties, including one with two minutes of regulation time remaining, were given, and the visiting team’s captain and defensive pillar, Lucky Lekgwathi, was sent off under dubious circumstances.

Given that it was all a shame, TP Mazembe officials didn’t want it to be screened on South African public television and the SABC crew were given a dosage of a time in hell, including detention for some of them, and when the home side scored their first goal, all television and radio coverage from the stadium, for the local community, was cut off.

Roger De Sa, the Pirates’ coach, said he wondered, as his players went through this nightmare, whether this was all worth the sacrifice, whether they should be competing in the first place in this poisoned pool and if it wasn’t better to walk away but, unlike Alex Ferguson, not to take a deserved break but to divorce himself from this shame.

But this is exactly what Lloyd Mutasa said when his brave young lions were not only cheated in Algiers two years ago by an Egyptian referee plucked from hell but also battered psychologically by the traumatic events of that night, where everything went for MC Alger, who eventually found a way to overturn a 4-1 first leg deficit.

No one, outside this country, took Mutasa’s outcry seriously and we saw Guthrie Zhokinyi and Archford Gutu, who were sent off in the match to make life easier for the Algerians, being slapped with extended sanctions, in terms of their suspensions, by that horrible organisation which should be called Corruption of African Football.

Because Lloyd is a Zimbabwean coach he could cry forever and no one would listen, after all we didn’t have the powerful medium of SuperSport to take our voices to a wider audience then, we don’t have someone as powerful as Irvin Khoza, who organised a Fifa World Cup as boss of the local organising committee, to make our case stronger.

We didn’t have the powerful medium of Soccer Africa, where the continent tunes in for an hour every week to listen to what is happening in its game, for Dynamos to state their case that they were robbed in Algiers, that the Egyptian referee was as close to a Satanist as referees will ever come and that Gutu and Zhokinyi were mere victims of a grand fraudulent act.

Our club didn’t have the profile of Orlando Pirates, they were not former champions of Africa, their chairman was not Irvin Khoza who sits on a Caf committee, they never had powerful sponsors like Standard Bank, who for 10 years walked with Pirates, and who also sponsor the Nations Cup, until 2015, and the Champions League, until 2016, through Stanbic Bank.

Now that it has happened to a wealthy club, to one whose immediate past sponsors are also the current sponsors of Caf, one with powerful men in the corridors of power in Caf and sympathisers in the corridors of power at Fifa, the shameless robbery that is committed in the name of the Champions League, year in and year out, has suddenly been thrown into the spotlight.

It’s sad that while the world is toasting greatness in this game, in this case the life of Alex Ferguson on the bench at Manchester United, the game in Africa is still trapped in darkness, the man who is supposed to provide light is an ailing and heartless moron called Issa Hayatou who will consider it a triumph, worth tweeting for, if he summons enough strength to remain awake to see the entire match.

The Classic Orlando Pirates Interview

One of the most colourful Orlando Pirates fans, who is always dressed in some crazy female outfits, is called Goodenough Sithole and there is an interview he had with SABC’s Deshi Baktwa, which has gone viral on YouTube:

Deshi: Pushing Passion Fan Of The Moment . . . Goodenough, you dressed today, very, very unusual for a man?
Goodenough: Yes I did, my, you, you, you my your, that’s why, you, you, must, you must like it for the Pirates. I’m very tired for the, always these people, you think, like a people you must show me, what is happening for the, for the Pirates. Pirates is not a one, one, one, one skipper for the, you must know, you show for the five people, five skippers must is not, must always, must put you one short.

Deshi: Ok Goodenough, just quickly tell me will you go to the shop to buy these clothing or this clothing, what do they say?

Goodenough: You must think, you must show, you must show for the, something for the Zulu, Zulu as, as Sotho or what what, you must somebody, now that’s why you must buy him for the, all this shoe, this short, tell us, you must know, you know, you must tell, you must know everybody must.

Deshi: Right Ok, thank you!

Gwindi Faces The Music

Leslie Gwindi lost his father this week and that hasn’t stopped the football leaders from piling on the pressure and threatening him with a ban for allegedly bringing the game of football into disrepute.

Gwindi’s crime is that he criticised the appointment of Klaus Dieter Pagels, criticised David Coltart and also questioned the PSL’s marriage with Delta Beverages.

I also had a fallout with Gwindi on a matter of principle last week.

But when we suddenly catapult the likes of Pagels into demi-gods, whose appointments can’t be questioned, when criticising Coltart turns into a sin and questioning PSL sponsorship deals turns into an act of digging one’s graveyard, you know the game has lost its soul.

Surely, this is too emotional a game to be turned into one for zombies who see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil because if you say something you will be banned.

If our football chiefs ban young leaders like Gwindi where are we going to get our own versions of the Fergusons, someone who can bow out of the hot seat, after 26 years of service for a giant football institution?

To God Be The Glory!
Come on United!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicharitooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The Herald

David Coltart

10 May 2013

IT is hard to adequately convey just how pleased I am following Zimbabwe’s One Day International series win against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

The best I can put it is “absolutely delighted”. I am particularly pleased that Vusi Sibanda and Sean Williams did so well — they are good buddies, enjoy each other’s company, and that was obvious from the field of play today.

I have felt that both have been underrated and am so pleased that they have both shown so emphatically how they are critically important members of the Zimbabwean team in all three types of the modern game of cricket. For those who question what I say regarding Sean and T20s, just look at his stats — he a batting an average of 38 for international T20s!

I think that key to this victory was that we got the selections right.

But of course as I said after Sunday’s game, the most encouraging thing about the manner of this victory was that it was based on mature, sensible cricket played by the entire team.

We have some great new bowlers coming up and it was good to see Brian Vitori making a comeback.

Although Brendan Taylor failed with the bat today he clearly is a good captain who leads by example and who is building a good spirit in the team. So all in all a very encouraging few days for Zimbabwean cricket.

After last Friday’s poor defeat against Bangladesh in the second Test, I described that game as the nadir of cricket in Zimbabwe — the lowest point — and my hope is that that is correct and we now start building and realising our true potential.

However, as good as this team is, it can be a lot better and part of that is creating favourable conditions to attract back the likes of Tatenda Taibu, the Ervine brothers and Craig Ballance. I may sound like a stuck record in that regard but I believe that this is possible.

Some of these players may struggle to force their way into this side but for Zimbabwean cricket to become great, and for it to be able to compete against the stronger cricketing nations, it needs to have a strong A side with players keeping the national team on their toes.

For this to happen, we simply must get all our top eligible players back in our set up.

David Coltart is the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture

News Day

By Feluna Nleya

9 May 2013

EDUCATION minister David Coltart yesterday defended the sending away of pupils over non-payment of fees, saying parents should pay up before schools open to avoid inconveniences.

His comments came amid reports that pupils in many parts of the country were turned away from school after failing to pay school fees at the beginning of the second term on Tuesday.

“This is a perennial problem and starts at the beginning of the term. It is regrettable, but the schools need money to operate,” Coltart said.

“If parents do not pay, schools will not have any money to run them and they will eventually close. I ask headmasters to be sympathetic and give parents (payment) terms that allow the pupils to go to school because this will only make the kids suffer and lag behind,” said Coltart.

“But parents also have to be responsible and pay their children’s school fees on time so as to avoid this when schools open. Government has to invest more in the education sector, but that is not possible at the moment because there is no money. So, this is the time where we ask parents to prioritise their children’s fees.”

At some schools, members of the School Development Committees reportedly stood by the school gates demanding proof of payment and turning away pupils.

A parent who requested anonymity told NewsDay that it was unfair for school authorities to demand payment on the opening day.

“How can they chase away my children on the first day of school? This is unnecessary and we urge the ministry to act on this kind of behaviour by school authorities,” the parent said.

New Zimbabwe

8 May 2013

IT IS hard to adequately convey just how pleased I am following Zimbabwe’s One Day International series win against Bangladesh on Wednesday. The best I can put it is “absolutely delighted”.

I am particularly pleased that Vusi Sibanda and Sean Williams did so well – they are good buddies, enjoy each other’s company, and that was obvious from the field of play today. I have felt that both have been underrated and am so pleased that they have both shown so emphatically how they are critically important members of the Zimbabwean team in all three types of the modern game of cricket.

For those who question what I say regarding Sean and T20s, just look at his stats – he a batting an average of 38 for international T20s! I think that key to this victory was that we got the selections right.

But of course as I said after Sunday’s game, the most encouraging thing about the manner of this victory was that it was based on mature, sensible cricket played by the entire team. We have some great new bowlers coming up and it was good to see Brian Vitori making a comeback.

Although Brendan Taylor failed with the bat today he clearly is a good captain who leads by example and who is building a good spirit in the team. So all in all a very encouraging few days for Zimbabwean cricket.

After last Friday’s poor defeat against Bangladesh in the second Test, I described that game as the nadir of cricket in Zimbabwe – the lowest point – and my hope is that that is correct and we now start building and realising our true potential. However, as good as this team is, it can be a lot better and part of that is creating favourable conditions to attract back the likes of Tatenda Taibu, the Ervine brothers and Craig Ballance.

I may sound like a stuck record in that regard but I believe that this is possible. Some of these players may struggle to force their way into this side but for Zimbabwean cricket to become great, and for it to be able to compete against the stronger cricketing nations, it needs to have a strong A side with players keeping the national team on their toes. For this to happen, we simply must get all our top eligible players back in our set up.

This weekend my home city Bulawayo will host for the first time ever two international T20 cricket matches at Queens. It promises to be a highly entertaining two days of T20 cricket.

So come on Bulawayo – let’s all go and pack Queens out – and in the process show the world which will be watching that there is quite a bit of spirit and life left in our beloved city yet!

The matches are this Saturday and Sunday the 11th and 12th May, starting at 1.30pm.

The Zimbabwean

By Edgar Gweshe

8 May 2013

Government inaction over untrained teachers in private colleges has riled teachers’ unions and compromised learning standards countrywide.

The Secretary General of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, Raymond Majongwe, said politicians were behind the privatisation of education in Zimbabwe. “The government is trying to privatise education. The people starting these private colleges are politically connected. The truth of the matter is that if this issue of privatisation of education is not handled properly, it will send the education sector into turmoil.

“If you look at these private colleges, even the infrastructure is not up to scratch. Also, the people creating these colleges do not have the administrative skills to run them. Issues like drug abuse and teenage pregnancies are rampant at these institutions,” said Majongwe.

He blamed the government for turning a blind eye. He said efforts to engage the government over the issue had failed. “The registration of these private colleges is quite dubious and our investigations have shown that some people are pocketing the registration money,” added Majongwe.

Teachers Union of Zimbabwe Secretary General, Ottoman Magaya, said: “While we want to promote the growth of the education sector, we must not be seen to be compromising standards. The Ministry of Education must make sure that students are going to get knowledge from qualified and competent personnel. They must visit these schools and make sure they adhere to the regulations.”

When contacted for comment, Education, Sport, Art and Culture Minister, David Coltart said: “Part of the problem is that some of these colleges are set up without the necessary approval and it is difficult to track them down. We have under qualified teachers in government schools as well as in private colleges because we do not have a sufficient number of qualified teachers in the country.”

News Day

By Constantine Chimakure

7 May 2013

IN our edition yesterday, Education minister David Coltart (DC)told NewsDay Editor Constantine Chimakure (ND) about the challenges faced by the education sector.

In this final installment, the minister speaks on how the sector can be improved. Below are the excerpts:

ND: What needs to be done to improve the quality of our education, mainly pass rates at both “O” and “A” Levels?
DC: It is very hard to describe in a few sentences what must be done to improve the quality of our education. The starting point is a massive increase in the amount of money allocated to the education sector.  Most of that money needs to be directed towards improving teachers’ conditions of service so that we can attract a much higher calibre of teachers into the teaching profession. In addition, massive investment needs to be made in the construction of new schools and in the rehabilitation of existing schools. Work on the review and reform of the curriculum needs to be expedited so that our curriculum and pedagogical practices are brought in line with the best in the world.

ND: What are the problems affecting BEAM? How many children are benefiting from BEAM and how are they selected?
DC: BEAM faces major challenges.  I should stress that this programme is not run by my ministry, but is run by the Ministry of Labour and Social Services and to that extent comment should be sought from the relevant minister.

Be that as it may, the review of BEAM done last year by the Ministry of Labour revealed the following challenges. More than half of the identified orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe (53,5%) presently receive no support from BEAM.  This amounts to some 308 000 children. So while hundreds of thousands of children are benefiting from BEAM, unacceptably high number of children remain out of school.
BEAM recipients are selected by BEAM committees throughout the country. In theory, they are selected on the basis of objective criteria relating to poverty, but I received numerous complaints countrywide that these criteria are often not applied in the selection of children.  In short if we are to deal with the challenges being faced by BEAM,  it needs a massive investment by government and reform of the selection process.

ND: What is the state of the examination council, Zimsec?
DC: Zimsec has been stabilised and my view is that it is improving in its service delivery. The number of children writing examinations has steadily increased since 2009. Examinations are being marked on time and the integrity of the entire examination system is within the bounds of internationally acceptable standards.

ND: Why is it yearly government grapples to pay examination markers and there are results mix-ups?
DC: Zimsec has battled to pay examination markers primarily because Treasury has not released monies due to   Zimsec in respect of Grade 7 examinations, which has undermined Zimsec’s cash flow situation. This in turn has affected Zimsec’s ability to pay examination markers on time.

There have been a few results mix-ups, but they equate to a tiny percentile of the examination papers sat for.

Furthermore, Zimsec fees are a quarter of those charged by, for example, Cambridge and in the context of the very limited budget at its disposal I think that Zimsec delivers very high quality service.

Indeed, I do not think that we fully appreciate what a great national asset we have in Zimsec. In saying this I do not in any way reject the criticisms, but believe that there is a steady improvement in the quality of the service provided by Zimsec.

ND: Why is the ministry allowing paid extra-lessons by teachers? Doesn’t this disadvantage the poor who cannot afford to pay for the extra lessons?

DC: The ministry has not banned  the provision by teachers of extra lessons where extra lessons given by teachers as a genuine attempt to improve a child’s understanding of a particular subject that is in the best interests of that particular child.

However, when teachers deliberately do not complete the curriculum and then give extra lessons and charge for them to make up for that deficiency, that amounts to professional misconduct and subject to disciplinary action. These practices do disadvantage   poor children and are unacceptable.

ND: Schools open (today), will school fees go up?
DC:  Government school fees will not go up this term. School fees in non-government schools and   levies in all schools may go up subject to the dictates of the Education Act and Secretary of Education circulars being complied with.

The law and policy is that before fees in non-government schools and levies  in all schools raised they must  receive the approval of a majority of parents  who attend a meeting called  to approve such increases where  there has been a 20% quorum.

In addition, any such increases must also be approved by the Secretary of Education. Any increases made without these procedures having been followed are illegal and unenforceable.

ND: As a parting note, what do you want to say to Zimbabweans?
DC: Although the education sector has stabilised and improved in some ways it remains in crisis.

If we are to resolve the crisis, the education sector must be treated in a non-partisan manner and must receive a much greater proportion of the national budget in real terms. This will require a sustained investment in education over many decades. For example the improvement in the education sectors in Singapore, South Korea and Finland has been achieved over the last four decades. In other words, Zimbabwe’s education sector will not be improved overnight.

However, if our dream is to transform   Zimbabwe into a first rate nation then we have to first transform our education system.

There is a grave danger that we will simply rest on our laurels and be deluded into thinking that because our education system has been outstanding in the past it will naturally continue to remain in this state.

As good as our education system has been in the past,  it faces very serious challenges.

Those challenges can only be addressed if difficult political decisions are taken to cut back on other areas of government spending and to invest in education.

Tied to this, of course, is the implementation of realistic economic policies which will attract investment, both domestic and international, which in turn will see increased revenues going to Treasury for onward investment in the education sector.

News Day

By Wonai Masvingise

7 May 2013

EDUCATION minister David Coltart has thanked teachers for their dedication to work despite poor remuneration.

Teachers and civil servants in Zimbabwe are among the poorest paid in the region earning an average of $250 which is below the poverty datum line (PDL) recorded in January as standing at $519.

In an interview with NewsDay yesterday, the Education minister thanked teachers, who resume work today after a month-long school holiday, for their perseverance even though they were not paid enough to sustain their families.

“I thank teachers for their dedication and commitment. I am aware of the difficult working conditions that they have to work under and I want to reassure them that I am doing everything possible to address those concerns,” Coltart said.

Coltart expressed concern over the issue of some headmasters who were refusing to accept examination fees from some pupils.

“I had a few complaints against headmasters who were refusing to accept payment for examination fees at some schools. No child should be kept from writing exams and I hope those headmasters will heed this warning,” he said.

In a survey done by NewsDay yesterday, fees at most government schools had not changed, but a few schools in urban areas had slightly revised their fees upwards this term.

Most parents interviewed by NewsDay around Harare said fees at most government schools had not changed from the previous term.

Muchaneta Shumba, who was buying uniforms for her daughter in Grade 5 at Kuwadzana 4 Primary School, said fees had not gone up at her child’s school.

“We paid $50 for fees last term and they have asked for $50 again this term, school fees have not gone up,” Shumba said.

Tariro Hove, another parent with a child at Neuso High School in Sanyati, said the school had not changed fees from last term.

“We paid $35 in school fees last term and this term we are also paying the same. It hasn’t changed,” Hove said.

Samuel Moyo, a parent with a Grade 1 pupil at Fitchlea Primary School in Kwekwe, said fees at the school had gone up by $30.

“We approved a school fees increase late last term so that we can have more resources to develop the school since no aid is coming from government,” Moyo said.