The Chronicle

By Ricky Zililo

24 September 2012

The future is gloom for the Young Warriors who dumped Mozambique out of the African Youth Championships at the weekend as Zifa has not secured funds to enable the team to travel to Congo Brazzaville next month. Zimbabwe beat Mozambique 2-0 in Maputo on Saturday having travelled by road for the game.

In a telephone interview after midday yesterday, the Zifa board member responsible for competitions and national teams, Benedict Moyo, said they were yet to plan for the Young Warriors’ next assignment.

He admitted that the national football motherbody faced financial constraints.

“The truth of the matter is that Zifa does not have any resources and this is why we are still on the road at this hour. We are under resourced and this makes planning difficult for us. It seems as if it is only the Zifa board that is worried about development and we have to undergo these competitions without government or stakeholders’ support.

“Other people do not see the need of developmental competitions and as for now it’s all gloom until we meet. We are happy that Minister David Coltart has called for an all-stakeholders meeting on Wednesday and we hope to get something from there,” said Moyo.

Zifa is hard-pressed to avoid the embarrassment that the national Under-20 men’s team faced after failing to travel to Angola for the return leg of their African Youth Championship qualifier last month.

Moyo said what made planning even more difficult is that many had written off the team having played to a two-all draw a fortnight ago in Gwanzura.

He said the Young Warriors’ friendly matches against Zambia where they lost 1-2 and drew the other game before their departure helped their cause.

The Young Warriors, according to Moyo, travelled without allowances to Mozambique.

“Zifa went deeper into debt due to this trip. The boys went without allowances but they did the nation proud. On our return, we were saved by Good Samaritans in Mutare who bought food for the players.

It is not a secret that Zifa is bankrupt but when you tell people that they don’t believe us,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Zifa board member said they would have to beef up the squad ahead of the Congo Brazzaville game and they would have to get funding to allow coaches to scout for talent throughout the country.

He said the players who will be called for junior national teams will have to undergo a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to determine their ages.

Already, there are concerns as to how accurate the MRI is following an incident where a Sobukhazi High School Form Four pupil Brandon Mpala was kicked out of the national team after he was said to have failed the test.

There are fears that Mpala’s results could have been switched to accommodate an over-aged player.

“Everyone has to go through the MRI scan because that is the only scientific way to prove one’s age. In the case of Mpala, we are waiting for the second opinion from his parents and after that we can then go for the third opinion,” said Moyo.

Chronicle sort to get to the bottom of Mpala’s saga with records at Mpilo Central Hospital showing that a baby boy was born to Dorcas Jekwa at 1700 hours on 26 March 1996. His record number is 69606 and the address given at the time of birth is still 2 Masiyephambili Flats in Mzilikazi where Mpala still lives with his family.

A visit to the Rabson Dlamini headed Mzilikazi Primary School revealed that the boy was admitted as a pupil in 2002 and finished his Grade Seven in 2008 and was in Grade 7C and his Zimsec Entry Number for the examination was 0329.

The second opinion disclosed that the player was born on 26 March 1996 and that there was no abnormality in his bone structure.

With the above results, could the scanner have been defective in Harare or somebody played around the bunch of X-rays and accommodated an over-aged player at the expense of the Bulawayo boy.

There are some players in the Young Warriors squad who went to Mozambique who have in the past been thrown out of the national Under-15s because they were suspected to be over-aged.

• Looking forward to the Lion Lager National Rugby League final between Hre Sports Club and Matabeleland Warriors. Nice to see NorthSouth duel #
• 1/3 of Lebanese are Christians – interesting statistic on the #BBC tonight – living on the same sectarian fault lines as their neighbours. #
• Very poor 3 umpiring. How could Taylor be given out in the way he was. Another case of small country players being expendable? #
• Zimbabwe were out of sorts today. I can see the disappointment in Brendan Taylor – so no criticism from me, just encouragement to carry on #
• Thank you @KirstyCoventry for your encouraging comments to Zimbabwean cricket team. They will be gutted because they are better than this #
• Good luck to Bendan Taylor and his men in their do or die clash against South Africa this afternoon in the t20 #cricket world cup. Go #Zim ! #
• Attending Cabinet Committee on Legislation re MOU between Min of Ed and Foundations for Farming. Expanding teaching of conservation Agri #
• Pleased to report that Cabinet Committee on Legislation has approved MOU with Foundations for Farming. Now goes to full Cabinet for final ap #
• Aside from anything else Zimbabwe has had hardly any international cricket this year. Compare that to the amount of cricket played by SA #
• #Zim really battling against SA. Outplayed but this is their first t20 match under lights in probably 2 years. Have not seen pace of Steyn. #
• If the ICC is truly interested in promoting cricket internationally is has to help Zimbabwe get more cricket. #Zim team is better than this. #
• As is the case with ZIFA we need to choose our best team. This team sorely needs Ballance, Coventry and Williams, Missing Taibu too… #
• Also seems to me that we have a psychological problem. Body language of top order was clearly negative. Irvine looking good though, ++ mind #
• SA comprehensively exacts revenge for their loss to Zimbabwe in June. We were outplayed in every department. Time for serious introspection. #
• News of the death due to cancer of a friend's young son this morning rather puts Zimbabwe's loss at cricket last night in its proper place. #
• Just attended a magnificent rendition of the Song of the Carnivores in Bulawayo's City Hall performed by children from poorer suburbs. #
• The next performance of the Song of the Carnivores is going to be in November at London Zoo with none other than @usainbolt in attendance. #
• Afganistan 26 for 8 after 10 against England chasing 196 for 5. Bad as #Zim was yesterday it does put their performance in some perspective #
• I condemn the violence meted out by Zanu PF yesterday against MDC supporters in Mutoko. Zanu clearly running scared of our growing support. #
• Depressing but not surprising. http://t.co/E9Bqe6jP We have to restore honour to #Zim Cricket so that our most talented want to play for Zim #
• The tragedy for me about Gary Ballance is that England will just use him as they did Graham Hick. Hick was always a foreigner . #
• We have to work hard in Zimbabwe Cricket to make conditions attractive enough so that players like Ballance feel confident enough to commit. #
• Well done @ABdeVilliers17 on a great knock. Also appreciated your comments re Zim after toss in the Zim game. Doing us all in Africa proud!! #
• I have a good feeling for SA under @ABdeVilliers17 and Gary Kirsten. Go all the way for Africa lads. Southern Africa's hopes pinned on you. #
• How the Entry of Walmart and Big Retail Chains Will Change India http://t.co/2jhvnbqO via @TIMEWorld Although Z is tiny we need this shake 2 #

The Standard

By Albert Marufu

23 September 2012

SOUTH Africa’s supreme sports controlling body, Sports and Recreation South Africa (SRSA), have been invited to present a paper on how to lure sponsorship into sport at the football indaba to be held in Harare on Wednesday.

The indaba, where Asiagate and financing local football are expected to top the agenda, was called by Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart.

Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) director-general, Charles Nhemachena said they had invited SRSA, which is their equivalent, to share ideas on how Zimbabwe could lure the corporate world to pour money into sport.

Though talent is abundant in Zimbabwe, the country is in dire need of sponsors,  which is exactly the opposite of what is happening down south where corporates fall over each other to support sport.

“Sport is big business in South Africa with the corporate world playing a huge role. That is the reason we have invited our counterparts, SRSA to share with us on how they do it that side. SRSA will present a paper on the incentives they offer the corporate world and I am sure that will help us in a big way,” he said.

Though sponsors are coming into Zimbabwean sport, with companies such as Mbada Diamonds, Marange Resources, Delta, and other financial institutions chipping in, the rate has been slow.

Only last month, the national Under 20 soccer team failed to fulfill a national assignment owing to lack of resources, while Team Zimbabwe performed dismally at the London 2012 games largely because of poor preparations.

However, it is the Asiagate that is likely to top the indaba’s agenda with the final report expected to be released.

The report was due last month, but the Justice Ahmed Ebrahim-led independent committee doing the investigations decided they had to interview an extra eight witnesses before judgement could be handed down.

The report is expected to clear or impose bans on some of the players and officials fingered in the scandal.

Players who will have been cleared might feature in Zimbabwe’s penultimate 2013 Afcon qualifier against Angola, which is on next month.

The Sunday News

22 September 2012

AS the nation prepares for the completion of the constitution-making process and the subsequent holding of the general elections, the electorate is now faced with a bitter task at hand; that of electing representatives who will lead them and represent them in parliament and in councils.

This will be the time when people sit back and reflect on whether their current legislators did anything for them over the past four years.

However, over this period the media has unfortunately been awash with reports of corruption among these representatives, this bringing to the spotlight the issue of the calibre of legislators political parties fielded during the election. the main question being do we need these Members of Parliament at all? Do they add any value to the nation and the people they represent?

Some legislators, who overnight had been turned from being mere political activists to full-scale decision-makers, took this as an opportunity to make money and and engage in personal enrichment rather than serve the people.

Those who used to rely on bicycles as their only mode of transport were suddenly seen driving all sorts of top-of-the-range vehicles, while others who did not have any accommodation moved to elite suburbs.

Councillors were not to be left out in the wave of self-enrichment as they took the opportunity to illegally acquire residential, industrial and commercial stands.

One of the parties in the inclusive Government, the MDC-T, recently gave in to corruption allegations and called for the immediate arrest of their own councillors who engaged in corrupt activities.

On the other hand when some of the legislators from Bulawayo were promoted to become Cabinet ministers the feeling was this would certainly bring some form of development to the region, however, this has disappointingly not been the case.

Currently the city is facing a water crisis that has seen households go for at least 72 hours per week without water, ironically the Minister of Water Resources, Management and Development, Mr Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, is a Member of Parliament for Njube-Lobengula constituency.

To add insult to injury Minister Nkomo has been at the forefront of calls upon residents to use water from the heavily contaminated Khami Dam, a suggestion that has been dismissed as ludicrous by residents.

The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, is also from the city but honestly have we benefited from this. yes Senator Coltart found an education sector that was in the doldrums but right now there has been some confusion on the issue of teacher incentives and sending students away for unpaid fees.

Again the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Professor Welshman Ncube, hails from the region while he has been vocal over the deindustrialisation affecting the city, the Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund has been a mere pie in the sky.

Many today have questioned on the actual need of these MPs, furthermore a lot of noise was made when there were a few ministers hailing from the region but have there been any tangible results, can we look back over these past four years and say there has been notable change.

Does the nation really have use for these legislators or they are just mere burdens who want to pamper themselves with more cars, houses and other luxuries.

Many have called for the amendment of the Electoral Act as the current law has been blamed for the alleged corruption levels, lack of basic leadership skills and knowledge of the job at hand.

As we prepare for yet another election, there will be a fresh wave of campaigns from people interested in becoming councillors, Members of the House of Assembly or Senators.

Some parties promised what they termed “real change” but four years on has there been any change at all?

Over these past four years some legislators have been accused of literally disappearing right after being thrust to their respective positions. Others have been accused of focusing on personal enrichment rather than serving their respective constituencies.

Just a few months ago accusations were being thrown around over the manner in which these legislators used their Constituency Development Fund (CDF), this saw government ordering an investigation on all members of the house of assembly to bring to rest allegations that the CDF was grossly abused and had not been used for its intended purpose.

Some of the legislators were arrested on allegations of squandering and misappropiating the fund.

As if this was not enough these legislators were once again the centre of controversy when they demanded new cars from government despite their continuous insistence that the government was broke and their failure to offer civil servants a salary increment citing the unavailability of funds.

With all this considered maybe the major question on everyone’s mouth is does the nation really need these legislators or we can just do away we them and the nation will perform far much better?

Do we really need leaders who will come today campaigning to be voted for and then disappear only to reappear when they want to be voted for again?

Sunday News last week managed to visit various constituencies in the Hwange area and no one was satisfied with the conduct of the MPs there, some even claimed not to know their representatives as they were hardly in the area.

“Right now the area is faced with a severe drought, you would expect that our MP would be here more often to assist those with an urgent need for food aid but honestly we hardly know him, some of us last saw him when he was campaigning for our votes and ever since he has just disappeared into thin air.

“It is so pathetic because we are the very people who voted for them but right now they can’t even stop for us on the road. nothing has changed since 2008, we still have no roads, water and right now we have this severe hunger,’’ said one villager who identified herself as Mrs Loveness Nyoni.

Political analyst and lecturer at the National University of Science and Technology, Dr Lawton Hikwa, said it was unfortunate that the issue of missing Members of Parliament had become a common trend in the country — more of an unwritten culture that had to be done away with.

He said there was a tendency among legislators to focus on self-enrichment and forget what was basically expected of them.

“The electorate should know that they have the right to demand that these legislators report back to them on a more regular basis. we should do away with this unfortunate trend of missing legislators because it is not good for our politics, we need these people to be accountable.

“On the other hand the legislators themselves must be more sincere in their roles. yes we know that they are very much entitled to such benefits as cars but they must be careful because they can’t just give themselves perks when the country’s fiscus doesn’t support this,’’ said Dr Hikwa.

He said in the coming elections the electorate must pay more scrutiny on the representatives they elect as these have a major bearing on their livelihoods for the coming five years.

“Right now we know that the nation is particularly concerned with the economy therefore we need people who will give us a positive blueprint on what they will do for our economy. corruption should not be condoned at all and these people should realise that when they are elected to those offices they are there simply as representatives of the people,’’ said Dr Hikwa.

The Sunday News

22 September 2012

THE paradox of our time is that while our education sector is faced with a myriad of grave challenges, we spend more time on dead debates.

For instance, instead of engaging in constructive debate on how we can improve high school education in the country, “respectable’’ government ministers and some traditional  leaders would rather stir a hornet’s nest by supporting the distribution of condoms and  contraceptives in schools. Schoolchildren require reading, teaching aids, books, computers and qualified teachers not condoms and contraceptives.

Just yesterday, we woke up to the news that Health and Child Welfare Minister Dr Henry Madzorera expressed support for the distribution of contraceptives in schools, saying this would curb cases of illegal abortions in the country. Whose child does the minister want to give condoms instead of books?

Let us practise what we preach. We preach abstinence and moral uprightness and not this condom business in schools. The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and  that of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, the National Aids Council, the church should be teaching students the dangers of premarital sex and the benefits of abstaining from premarital sex.

Condoms do not promote abstinence. This is a fact.

Does abortion pose a threat bigger than that of social decadence?

Here are a few facts based on research in America where this dead debate was born.

The distribution of condoms in schools is wrong because:

– it encourages an earlier onset of sexual activity

– it is a potential offence to religious people/groups

– it is wrong for taxpayers to be forced to financially support a programme they consider morally objectionable

– it makes sexual activity in general become the norm

-  it increases peer pressure to engage in sexual behaviour

n of the relative ineffectiveness of condoms, especially when used improperly, as is commonly done by those inexperienced, or young.

Zimbabwe is a free country. People who support the distribution of condoms to schoolchildren should distribute them in their homes and leave our children alone.

The Ministers of Health and his education counterpart, Senator David Coltart, should be debating on why they are only a few schools doing well in science education and provide test tubes instead of condoms.

Biology lessons should be left to theory in the science laboratory and not enhanced through the distribution of condoms. This also raises other pertinent questions which beg for answers from those who support the distribution of condoms to children. Exactly where will these condoms be used and how? Are we going to ask manufacturers to  come up with a small version of  condoms for these kids? Leaders need to be more serious than this.

Will Government allow children in mixed schools to cohabit? Will devious children in day schools abusing storerooms and bushes be afforded accommodation just for sex?

Will children caught in the act be expelled? Surely, we cannot give them condoms with one hand and punish them with the other.

Why are we obsessed with dead debates?

Let’s talk about nutrition in schools, books and quality of education.

Let’s teach our children the same principles and values we were taught by those who came before us. No sex before marriage, PERIOD!

Dr Madzorera was a high school student once and he made it without the availability of condoms.

He must not fix what is not broken. We have said this before and we repeat it now, that those  children who will not listen to  advice from their parents to  abstain from illicit sex are food for the maggots. This is simple and straightforward. We cannot pay fees for students to go to school to engage in sex.

Speech given on the occasion of the showing of the production ‘Song of the Carnivores’, City Hall, Bulawayo

By David Coltart

21 September 2012

Allow me to first of all express my gratitude in being invited to be the guest of honour at this occasion of the showcase of the production of the Song of the Carnivore. It gives me great joy and pleasure to be in the City of Kings, my home city, and indeed in my own constituency, Khumalo.

Bulawayo is a city endowed with vast artistic talent that needs to be publicized and nurtured. The City of Bulawayo has a rich cultural mosaic and is renowned for its humility and humbleness. I have seen the arts sector in Bulawayo evolve over the years and I must say that the future indeed looks bright.

The Intwasa Arts Festival is the biggest festival in South Western Zimbabwe and thus plays a central role in the development of the arts in general. Young artists who want to attain international stardom should use Intwasa to expose their talent.  It is in this regard that I wish to commend the efforts of our co-operating partners, particularly the British Council, who have over the years invested thousands of dollars towards the arts sector in Zimbabwe. I say to British Council and other like minded institutions, please keep up the good work that you are doing, your benevolence is noted and appreciated.

I note that this year’s edition of the Intwasa festival has expanded its scope to as many arts genres as possible. This is indeed commendable as it enables more and more artists to participate and equally attract the much needed audience base that is critical for the sustainability of any artistic endeavour.

Similarly, the participation of many schools in this year’s festival is also commendable as the arts are a popular information dissemination strategy. The arts are popular among students as they are somewhat informal, entertaining and mind engaging.

The Song of the Carnivore project is an example of how important education is to the environment and future protection of our natural resources. Being able to work with children in a structured school environment has led to an appreciation of the need to conserve the various elements of the environment so as not to interrupt the ecosystem. The environment is the most important source of our livelihoods. As individuals we have an obligation to the environment, our failure to exploit nature in a sustainable manner will constrict the human race to demise.

Zimbabwe’s environment is under serious threat. Much of our wildlife has been poached out in the last 12 years. Our rhino population is under serious threat. Trees are being cut down at an unprecedented rate. Our hardwood forests are under threat because of corruption and unchecked logging. Bush fires rage countrywide. Gold panners are destroying our river systems. If we do not influence this coming generation to protect the environment, our beautiful Zimbabwe will be destroyed and transformed into a desert.

The quest for environmentalism in Zimbabwe gained prominence in the early 1990s and it is exciting that this theme is now appearing in the domain of the arts. This is indeed a breath of fresh air.

I am informed that the Song of the Carnivore project has seen over 80 schools in the Bulawayo Province participate since the beginning of the project. Arts genres covered under the project include music, art and poetry. Over 70 of the schools participated in a lecture series programme where field experts were brought to Bulawayo to share their knowledge and experience about wildlife.

The Song of the Carnivore project is an example of how cross-sector collaboration can be successful in using resources effectively, and working to educate not just school children, but their teachers and their parents.

I also wish to take this opportunity to commend the hard work of all the teachers who have helped the children during the tenure of this project. Dedicated teachers are vital to education, without them it does not matter how much resources we avail to schools, it is the quality of learning that matters at the end of the day. I wish to profoundly thank all teachers involved in this project for their hard work and encourage them to keep advancing the ideals of the project.

As we all celebrate the triumph of the Song of the Carnivore Project, let us all spare a thought for those children who are not able to go to school for one reason or the other and are thus missing out on the subject of conservation and many other benefits of formal education. Let us all put our heads together and ensure that those children who are not part of mainstream society also benefit from our various arts programmes. It is then and only then, that I will be able to say that as authorities in education and the arts we have done our job.

Allow me ladies and gentlemen to conclude by once again thanking all the stakeholders involved in this project, particularly the British Council, Alliance Francais and Zoological Society of London as well other sponsors and partners for supporting this initiative.

I thank you!

The Chronicle

20 September 2012

MDC president Professor Welshman Ncube has accused the MDC-T of being a violent and corrupt party.

He ruled out prospects of the two parties collaborating in the forthcoming harmonised elections.
Prof Ncube said this in an interview on British Broadcasting Corporation HardTalk programme on Tuesday.

The MDC leader said they differed with the other MDC faction on policy issues and accused it of perpetrating violence, the same allegation he made against Zanu-PF.

“(I have) absolutely nothing against the person of Morgan Tsvangirai. Our differences are about our political behaviours and the things we do as politicians. I keep underlining, it is on record that our colleagues in the MDC-T often practise violence; it is on record that Morgan Tsvangirai himself has reversed collectively made decisions and it is also on record that the local government structures that they control have acted as corruptly if not more corruptly than the Zanu-PF ones. Those are the things which divide us,” he said.

The MDC split in 2005 after Mr Tsvangirai overruled his national executive decision to participate in Senate elections following the re-introduction of the Upper House of Parliament.

The split was, however, a tip of the deeply entrenched differences between Mr Tsvangirai and some of his lieutenants that include Prof Ncube.

Following the split Ambassador Trudy Stevenson, then Harare North legislator and some officials aligned to Prof Ncube’s MDC, were assaulted by youths belonging to the Tsvangirai-led faction near Mabvuku.

Mr David Coltart also said his decision to align with Prof Ncube was influenced by the violent nature of the Tsvangirai-led faction.

The MDC-T has also witnessed numerous cases of intra-party violence and its congress in Bulawayo last year was marred by clashes of rival factions belonging to Mr Tsvangirai and secretary general Tendai Biti.

MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora, however, denied Prof Ncube’s allegations.
“We have never begged Welshman Ncube and his party to work with us. We have said as MDC that we are willing to work with any democratic forces who share our beliefs and ideals. It is certainly up to a political party to decide to work with us or not.

“With regards to allegations of violence and corruption those are typical of his party to gain relevance by joining Zanu-PF to denigrate the MDC.

“We are the only party that has dealt decisively with corruption as evidenced by our bold decision to fire councillors accused of corruption,” Mr Mwonzora said.

Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo said: “From what I read from the interview it confirms what we have been saying all along that the MDC is a violent and corrupt party.

“The corruption is demonstrated by what we are seeing in councils under their control. It is, however, unfortunate and misguided of him (Prof Ncube) to compare us with the MDC-T. We are a revolutionary party that brought independence through the liberation struggle and the only party fighting for the empowerment of indigenous Zimbabweans”.

In the interview Prof Ncube also questioned the accolades bestowed on Mr Tsvangirai by various Western governments and organisations.

“Well, I’m a Zimbabwean, I live in Zimbabwe. I worked within the united MDC, I worked outside the united MDC and I can tell you the things on which we differ are fundamental. They go to the very heart of the struggle against Zanu-PF. I repeat, we don’t want to replace Zanu-PF in name and not also in terms of the things it does.

“All I can say is that those who might be somewhere in Australia, those who might be in Paris, in Washington are entitled to have their opinions about any of the leaders in Zimbabwe just as much as we are entitled as Zimbabweans to have our own opinions about ourselves and our leaders,” he said.

He said the performance of the inclusive Government had not been a total failure as seen by the improvements in the economy although he said a lot still needed to be done on the political front.

“Well, the inclusive government has not been a total failure, but it could have done better. In terms of political reforms clearly we have failed.

“We have not done the things that we should have done by now, we should have created the necessary conditions for free and fair elections, that has not happened. There are many parts of the GPA on media reforms, on provincial governors that we have not implemented,” he said.

“However, in terms of where Zimbabwe was in 2008 or beginning of 2009 in economic terms we have made a lot of progress. We have a country which was virtually on the verge of collapse if not completely collapsed, that economy we have managed to resuscitate it, it’s now working.

“Yes it could do better and yes people are still poor but you don’t have an economy which is basically on its knees anymore.

“It’s an economy which is on its way to recovery. Whether or not it recovers now depends on what happens at the next election,” he said.

 The Zimbabwean

By Edgar Gweshe

20 September 2012 

Daily News

By Austin Karonga, Sports Writer

19 September 2012

HARARE - Sports minister David Coltart expressed dismay at the “poor umpiring” by Englishman Richard Kettleborough, which led to the dismissal of Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor during the 82-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the ICC World Twenty20 opener on Tuesday.

So outraged was Coltart, a staunch cricket fan, that he implied Zimbabwe was treated unfairly because it was a small country.

Zimbabwe were generally poor in the field with dropped catches, mis-fields and extras being the order of the day.

All-rounder Malcolm Waller dropped two simple catches to sum up a woeful all-round performance by the African side.

Sri Lanka posted a healthy total of 182 runs for the loss of four wickets, having recovered from 82-3 inside 11.3 overs.

Zimbabwe’s batting started on a promising note until the sixth over when Ajantha Mendis removed two batsmen in successive deliveries.

Opener Vusi Sibanda was bowled on the third ball of the sixth over before Taylor was stumped next ball, but it was the skipper’s decision which attracted the ire of Coltart.

Taylor appeared marginally out of his crease when Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara removed the bails. Television replay showed that the batsman should have been given the benefit of doubt. However on referral, third umpire Richard Kettleborough gave Taylor out.

“Very poor third umpiring, how could Taylor be given out in the way he was, another case of small country being expendable,” Coltart tweeted.

Man-of-the-match Mendis claimed a career best 6-8.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe coach Alan Butcher admitted his team needed desperately needed a quick turnaround after the opening defeat.

“Obviously, it’s our last chance to progress in the tournament and to do so we will have to put in a vastly improved performance than against Sri Lanka, which after all the hard work was a big disappointment,” said Butcher.

“We have to pick ourselves and be positive against what we know is a very good side. We need to put in a performance we can all be proud of.”

The Chronicle

By Leonard Ncube

19 September 2012

THE Government is working on making mandatory that all teachers should have passed Mathematics at Ordinary Level as it moves to improve the standard of education in the country.

However, there is still debate among stakeholders on whether to adopt the suggestion.
Mathematics has always been a requirement for one to enrol in primary school teacher training colleges.

In an interview yesterday, the Minister of   Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart, said nothing concrete had been agreed on but his ministry has engaged stakeholders with a view to improve education standards in the country.

This comes in the wake of the economic challenges of the past decade, which saw the education sector losing thousands of qualified teachers.

There have been rumours making rounds that the Government had set benchmarks for all teachers to have Ordinary Level Mathematics by 2014 and those with degrees not related to teaching, but working as teachers have to attain a teaching course.

Minister Coltart could not be drawn into disclosing full details of the key issues being discussed on, but said the engagements were aimed at ensuring that teachers had the best attributes, possession of Mathematics being one of them, to improve education standards.

“I am not aware of any circular to that effect as yet. I will have to find out but what we are doing now is to try and maintain quality education standards among teachers. As the Government we are determined to maintain the education standards that made the country one of the best in the continent and we are currently having discussions with other stakeholders on how best we can improve the quality of education and what could be the pre-requisites,” said Minister Coltart.

He said the debate was on the “kind of teacher Zimbabwe wants” to improve the quality of education.

Minister Coltart said in the last 10 years Government relied on unqualified teachers who learnt through in-house training and there was a need to improve their quality.

“We are being pushed by what happened in the last 10 years where a lot of teachers left the field for greener pastures in the Diaspora or joined other professions. We had to rely on a huge number of unqualified teachers in our schools and now we have to relook into the matter and maintain education standards.

“Instead of building our teachers in colleges we ended up having in-service training of unqualified teachers and now we are trying to improve standards. We have not really come up with what should be the requirements for teachers because there is still debate on whether Mathematics should be a pre-requisite,” said Minister Coltart.

He said the discussions were involving the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, which is responsible for training of teachers.