ZimEye.org

By Xinhua/Staff Reporter

15 July 2010

Zimbabwe has superceded and overtaken Tunisia rising to become Africa’s best country with a literacy rate according the latest figures from the UNDP Digest.

Tunisia (up north) had held pole position for years with Zimbabwe second- best and number one in Sub-Saharan Africa.

But according to the UNDP Digest, Zimbabwe’s literacy level jumped to 92 percent, up from 85 percent while Tunisia remains on 87 percent.

The achievement is despite the country’s education sector suffering from brain drain and lack of resources over the past decade as has been recently lamented by Education Minister, David Coltart.

A senior government official told the Herald on Wednesday that the increase in literacy levels is due to government’s heavy investment in education over the years which has seen among others, many civil servants attending university even in their old age. A recent survey revealed hundreds of teachers, gone past the age of 35 gaining access to prestigious university programmes.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education Washington Mbizvo said the government has promoted conventional and open distance learning in its quest to achieve education for all.

“The latest statistical digest was published last month and shows our country surpassing all African countries. This is because we have been able to make all people access education including those in resettlement areas.

“Despite hardships, education facilities are present in most parts of the country,” he said.

While acknowledging that education infrastructure has deteriorated, Mbizvo said the quality and culture of education in the country has improved.”

“Zimbabweans have always been eager to learn,” he said.

“The government has expanded the number of teachers’ colleges to 13, producing 2, 500 teachers per year,” he said, adding that other countries in Africa produce between 200 and 400 teachers annually on average.

Herald

14 July 2010

Harare — Government will continue improving teachers’ welfare, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart has said.

Addressing journalists on the sidelines of a two-day workshop on education and the donor community, Minister Coltart said teachers were a vital component in national development.

As such, he said, Government would engage donors through the workshop ahead of a meeting of developmental partners set for the United Kingdom next week. “As Government we should ensure better living conditions, adequate salaries and personal security so that teachers have no excuses for leaving the country in search of greener pastures,” he said.

Minister Coltart called for dialogue with other ministries, especially the Ministry of Finance, to discuss funding for education in 2011. “Government is currently reaching out to other partners including non-governmental organisations to fight financial problems faced by the ministry,” he said.

Newsday

By Mernat Mafirakurewa

July 14 2010

Education minister David Coltart has called for a review of the country’s education curriculum which he says has become irrelevant especially in the area of information technology.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a workshop on education on Tuesday, the minister said Zimbabwe was lagging behind in terms of curriculum development.

“We are woefully behind especially in areas such as information technology. For two decades our curriculum has remained the same,” he said.

Coltart said he would next week lead a delegation to the United Kingdom to engage developmental partners to address this situation.

The meeting is scheduled for 22 and 23 July in London.

Tuesday’s workshop was held with a view of coming up with a document to be presented at the London meetings.

Coltart said dialogue with the finance ministry was key in coming up with a proper budget for education in 2011.

He said the inclusive government was in the process of reaching out to partners including non-governmental organisations to fight financial problems faced by the ministry.

Delegates to the meeting said the country needed the support of international partners such as the World Bank.

The meeting noted that one of the key elements to ensuring recovery of the sector would be through the restoration of professional status of teachers.

“This is the most important component in the education sector,” Coltart said.

The delegation to the United Kingdom was expected to lobby donors to fund education in Zimbabwe.

“We need funds to re-invigorate the schooling system so that the education system can start functioning again,” said Coltart.

Sunday News

12 July 2010

By Mehluli Sibanda

THE Government will soon avail funds for the refurbishment of the Khumalo Hockey Stadium in Bulawayo, which will pave way for the country to host the African Olympic Hockey qualifiers next year.

Education, Sports and Culture Minister David Coltart said he had spoken to Finance Minister Tendai Biti who had agreed to release money to revamp Khumalo Hockey Stadium. The stadium’s turf has disintegrated to a stage where it is impossible to hold a full hockey match.
“I have spoken to the Finance Minister and he indicated to me that the funds would be released soon for the refurbishment of the Khumalo Hockey Stadium to enable the country to host the African Olympic qualifiers next year. So we expect the refurbishment to be complete by the end of this year,” he said. The education minister said a foreign donor has shown interest in rehabilitating Magamba Stadium in Harare. In terms of figures, Coltart said they were looking in the region of US$1 million as they had to replace the astro turf, fix the water system for both fields and sort out the floodlights.
In 2004, the Federation of International Hockey offered the Hockey Association of Zimbabwe a grant of US$50 000 to replace the astro turf at both Khumalo Stadium and Magamba Stadium in Harare but HAZ lost the allocation after failing to get Government support for the project. On the higher figure to be released by the Government, Coltart described the level of deterioration at Khumalo Stadium as “horrendous” and had been allowed to go unchecked over the years.
Built ahead of the 1995 All-Africa Games hosted by the country, the two stadiums were world class and were touted as some of the best hockey facilities in the world. After the disintegration of the astro turfs since 2003, the facilities had virtually become White Elephants. The two stadiums were built by the Ministry of Public Works who in turn handed them over to the Sport and Recreation Commission to run them on behalf of Government.

The Zimbabwean

By Staff Reporter

9 July 2010

BULAWAYO – Victims of political violence in Bulawayo have formed a new organisation they say will work to bring perpetrators of violence and rights abuses to justice.
Secretary of the Zimbabwe Victims of Organised Violence Trust,  Themba Nyathi, described the new group as “victim-led, victim-driven and victim centred.” He said perpetrators of violence are determined and organised while victims are scattered and vulnerable.
“We are talking about violence that is sponsored violence. Violence whereby people sit down and agree to sanction some kind of violent action against individuals,” he added.
As a victim of violence himself, Nyathi said he is very familiar with the issues surrounding political violence in Zimbabwe and the culture of impunity.
The group’s chairperson is Patricia Nabanyama, the well-known activist whose husband disappeared many years ago after being abducted by suspected Zanu (PF) agents.
Nabanyama, who was an election agent for David Coltart in Bulawayo, has never been seen alive since his abduction. The people suspected to have abducted are known but have never been ever arrested or interrogated over the matter.
Nyathi said: “We need what we call a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the framework of the constitution, which has got a mandate, an authority to do something to bring justice for the victims.”
Asked whether the group represented any victims of violence claiming to be Zanu (PF) members, Nyathi said that his group did not represent members of President Robert Mugabe’s party because they were the ones behind most of the political violence in the country.
He also acknowledged that it is going to be very difficult to prosecute supporters of the party that is sponsoring the violence, but concluded: “If we don’t do it then who will?”

Sunday News

11 July 2010

By Nobuhle Nyoni

In a clear case of double standards, some schools in Bulawayo have reportedly been receiving tuition fees from both the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) and charity organisations for the same pupils amid reports that more schools could be involved in the scandal, Sunday News can disclose.

According to sources, two schools that have been investigated, Mpumelelo and Gampu Primary in Mpopoma, have been receiving tuition fees from both institutions since the beginning of the year for 13 and 12 pupils respectively.
Sunday News is in possession of the list of students whose fees were paid by the charity organisation yet the same names also appear on the BEAM list for 2010.
The source revealed that the Mpumelelo and Gampu school heads were well aware that the institutions have been receiving the money for the students from both BEAM and the charity organisation.
“The two school heads have been aware of what is going on but are doing nothing about it. I have with me a list of 25 students who are paid for by both BEAM and our organisation and the schools are aware of that. If the students are under BEAM then the school should advise us so that we stop paying and what is suprising is that they are demanding money for school fees,’’ said an official from the organisation.
However, the headmistress of Mpumelelo, Ms Patricia Chibelu, refuted the allegations levelled against the school and swore that nothing of the sort was happening at the school.
“There is nothing like that happening at the school and nothing of the sort could happen. What happens is that the money for BEAM is paid directly to the bank and organisations also pay directly to the school account,’’ she said.
She said some of the children whose fees were being paid by charity organisations were put under beam as the organisation was failing to pay for them.
Ms Chibelu accused the organisation of coming up with fake documents as the school was the only institution in possession of the list of students who were on BEAM.
The headmistress of Gampu primary, a Mrs Masola, also dismissed the allegations.
“There is nothing like that happening at the school, we can never accept fees from two organisations for the same students. That is unheard of,’’ she said before cutting the phone.
The source said that clearly demonstrated the corruption that was taking place within the school system.
“Gampu primary is also doing the same thing as the organisation is paying for 12 students who are on the BEAM list. The heads of these two schools have a case to answer. I can say that there are other schools that are doing the same thing. We are doing our investigations to unearth whatever is happening,’’ she said.
It has also emerged that more schools could be involved in the scam leaving many wondering where the extra money goes.
The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, condemned the practice, saying schools were not allowed to receive fees from two organisations.
“The schools should not be receiving money from BEAM and the charity organisation, no child should have their fees paid in double,’’ he said.
He said BEAM was meant to assist students who had no other means of paying tuition fees.
Mpumelelo primary was in the limelight a few weeks ago for operating a private preschool for grade zeros in which the school head was also implicated.
BEAM authorities have of late argued that the process was thorough and that there was no room for cheating.
The programme was reintroduced last year to assist vulnerable children in the country in paying their tuition fees both at primary and secondary levels.

The Times

8 July 2010

By Mike Atherton

Some years ago, when his ambitions extended beyond the Presidency of the International Cricket Council, the former Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, referred to Robert Mugabe, in unusually blunt, non-diplomatic terms, as a ‘grubby dictator.’ Later, he banned the Australian cricket team from playing in Zimbabwe.

In the late summer of 2007, Andy Flower, then England’s assistant coach with no overt ambitions for the top job, was asked about Zimbabwe’s position within the international cricket community, and more specifically about the men running Zimbabwe Cricket. Sitting on the steps of the Oval that day, Flower was unequivocal: ‘Peter Chingoka [ZC’s chairman] is part of Mugabe’s despicable plan and the fact that he is allowed to prance around the ICC committee is embarrassing,’ he said.

Yet last week, Howard flew to Harare to talk to those still running cricket there, and Flower gave a considered and articulate presentation to the MCC World Cricket Committee during which he encouraged a reappraisal of the boycott of Zimbabwe. The actions of the first man can be swiftly dismissed- politicians will do anything for votes, and Howard needed Zimbabwe’s support for his failed bid for the Presidency of the ICC- the words of the second, less so.

By wearing a black armband at the 2003 World Cup, Flower made a stand against the situation in his homeland that resulted in the premature end to his international career and the relocation of his family. Until recently, he has remained a consistent critic of those running cricket in Zimbabwe and he cannot, like Howard, be criticised on the grounds of self-interest.

So what has changed? Superficially, much has. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is in a power-sharing arrangement with Mugabe’s Zanu-PF. The economy has stabilised, is now dollar denominated and hyperinflation is a thing of the past. In cricket, accounts have been produced and independently verified, the team has won matches recently with an eleven chosen strictly on merit and good people, such as Dave Houghton, the former Zimbabwean batsman, have returned to get involved and bring credibility. A newly-created franchise system offers hope for a competitive future.

Yet nobody would be foolish enough to argue that the serpents have vanished what was previously Africa’s Garden of Eden. Mugabe remains firmly in control. Torture, murder, repression, starvation and corruption are still rife. Only this month, Amnesty International said: ‘we remain concerned about persistent abuse of the law against perceived opponents of the former Zanu-PF government,’ urging ‘the unity government to end all malicious persecutions of people exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.’ They added that the Attorney General’s office has been left to ‘freely violate human rights in pursuit of a political agenda.’

Last month a documentary called ‘Mugabe and the White African’, highlighting the struggle of a white farmer’s family to hold onto its land, was released to much acclaim. It was an appropriate moment, because as the world’s eyes and ears were on another sporting event in Africa, Mugabe embarked upon another round of land grabbing. Hillary Clinton commented on June 15th that the ruling clique within Zanu-PF ‘continue to benefit from the diamond trade and benefit from corruption to a very significant degree.’

And the links between cricket and Zanu-PF remain strong. Ozias Bvute, the man who kicked Henry Olonga off the team bus during his protest with Flower and whose bullying, unpleasant and racially-motivated policies became such a feature of Zimbabwe Cricket, is still the Managing Director. Chingoka remains as Chairman. Their political links to Zanu-PF are well known, hence their inability to travel to places such as the United Kingdom and Australia, and hence the ICC’s need to relocate meetings to non-cricketing destinations such as Singapore. And if no-one has yet been able to prove any corruption, it has been widely suspected and they retain little or no credibility within the cricketing fraternity.

Despite these problems, the time has come to listen to those in Zimbabwe, those whose lives have been affected and those who have had the guts to stand their ground. David Coltart, a human rights lawyer, MDC politician and now Minister for Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, is one; David Ellman-Brown, a life President of ZC and a qualified chartered accountant, is another and this week I spoke to both as they argued the case for Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket.

First Coltart: ‘It has been very difficult for us in the human rights community because we came to a position that unless we reached an agreement [with Zanu-PF], Zimbabwe could become another Liberia or Somalia. The agreement provided a non-violent evolutionary means of achieving a transition to democracy. Inevitably that meant that some of our goals of holding people to account for terrible crimes committed will not be achieved. It was a choice for a better future.’

So with politics, so with cricket. ‘Things are not perfect. Chingoka and Bvute are still running the game, although whatever their failings, their sins are not at the same level as Mugabe’s. But we are making progress. I’d say we are at a similar stage that South Africa was at in the early 90s before Mandela’s release. Transition was by no means certain then, either, but sport had a big role to play.’

‘The Howard issue was unfortunate, but they [ZC] publicly abstained rather than voted against him. India was running that show and I don’t think Zimbabwe’s future should be decided by Howard’s failure to get nominated. The cricket team is certainly improving, good people are involved again and all those developments have flowed from the improvements in the political situation.’

But what of the ICC funds that went missing and the KPMG report into the ‘financial irregularities’ that precipitated Malcolm Speed’s resignation? Ellman-Brown has gone through the report and insists that there is no evidence to finger either Chingoka or Bvute. ‘There were certainly weak areas of financial control and exchange control irregularities but you have to remember that they were trying to run a business in a hyperinflationary environment. Because of hyperinflation, those accounts were meaningless. There were certainly grey areas but nothing that you could substantiate as incriminating. There is much more transparency now.’ Why then have the ICC not released the report? ‘You’ll have to ask them that.’

Ellman-Brown favours a return to Test cricket against the weaker teams initially, such as Bangladesh and West Indies. This gradual repositioning would help strengthen Zimbabwe Cricket for the inevitable, long-awaited moment when Mugabe steps down or dies. It is inconceivable that the British government would sanction a return of the England team until that moment but Coltart argues that involvement with Zimbabwe now would encourage the moderates within Zanu-PF so when that moment comes it is they rather than the hard-liners who have the upper hand.

Principles or pragmatism? It is easy to be principled from thousands of miles away; easy to feel indignant on behalf of others. For those on the ground, those who have been through the worst of times, the only thing that matters is the future. Coltart himself has been threatened with imprisonment, survived an assassination order and seen numerous clients disappear for good. If he can put aside rancour, it should be easy enough for the rest of us.

‘One cannot live in the past,’ he says, ‘You have to move on. As in South Africa, cricket can play a role in helping a peaceful means to transition and a better future. It is one of the few things we have got.’

Herald

10 July 2010

By Ellina Mhlanga

TWO-TIME Comrades marathon winner Stephen Muzhingi has urged the young and up coming athletes to remain focused to be able to achieve their goals.

Muzhingi said there are challenges in every situation and the athletes should face them.

“It is very hard to become a top athlete, I was young, my colleagues used to laugh at me when I talked about my ambition as an athlete.

“It was difficult for me to show people what I wanted to do but I remained focused.

“And to the young athletes, they must identify their goals and areas there are good at and focus on that,” said Muzhingi.

Muzhingi was a happy man on Thursday when the Harare City Council and other stakeholders hosted a banquet in his honour.

The athlete said he had now made up his mind against taking up South African citizenship.

“I could have acquired the South African citizenship last year in October when I won the Comrades marathon for the first time.

“If I had changed my citizenship I would have won R2 million and incentives from different stakeholders.

“This year again the South Africans encouraged me to take up their citizenship so that I can get all the incentives but I refused,” said Muzhingi.

In an interview with The Herald on the sidelines of Thursday’s function, Muzhingi said he will remain a Zimbabwean and continue to raise the country’s flag high despite the challenges he is facing.

As an athlete, he need adequate support to fund his training but remains attracted to the South African programme.

“I wish the nation could do something more for sports people in this country.

“When I go back to South Africa, my sponsors and the media will ask me if my country has done anything for me besides honouring me,” said Muzhingi.

Muzhingi said lack of sponsorship has been his major obstacle but expressed hope to have local sponsors who could support him after the Minister of Education Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart called on the corporate world to come on board during the reception hosted by Harare Mayor, Muchadeyi Masunda, on Thursday to honour the athlete.

“Now that I have been recognised and the government have promised to support me, it appears things are going to be better for me,” said Muzhingi.

The Herald

10 July 2010

By Alexander Kanengoni

John Howard, the former Australian Prime Minister is not exactly our friend.

Considering that he was one of the people at the forefront of the global campaign to impose sanctions on the country and cripple our economy to achieve the regime change objective, all well-meaning Zimbabweans find it difficult not to dislike him.

Recently, he paid an unexpected visit to the country to canvass for support to be elected ICC vice president.

I don’t think we extracted much, if any political mileage at all from his unexpected visit.

Just as the visit by the Brazilian Samba Boys a week or so before him, his visit offered a huge opportunity for the country to use him to correct the negative perception of the country that he was instrumental in creating.

Instead of confining him to the five star Miekles and the leafy environs of the Harare Sports Club, we should have taken him on a tour around the country to see for himself the devastation that the sanctions that he prefers to call targeted are causing on ordinary people.

Of course all this would be before a tour of the Victoria Falls or Gonarezhou Safari resort to sample the true African beauty that these places offer.

Because he came through David Coltart, the Minister of Education, he should have been taken to visit an unfinished rural school because funding dried up in the middle of construction due to sanctions.

He should have been asked to talk to the poor pupils learning under a tree to discover their enthusiasm to learn; that they are just as eager for education as their Australian counterparts except that they happen to be Zimbabweans and black.

He should have been taken on a tour to a council clinic in Makokoba or Budiriro and see for himself the tragic situation there because the country is having difficulties in accessing the Global Fund to fight HIV and Aids because of the sanctions that people like himself advocated for on the dishonest pretext that they are targeted.

Because, just like the Brazilian soccer team, he had the entire global media focussed on him, we certainly would have extracted much political mileage.

That would also have helped to expose some misconceptions that he assisted the world to construct about the country.

We would have loved Howard to say something during the tour. Perhaps as Shakira said during her whirlwind visit to Gonarezhou, he might have said he would visit again when he had more time and in more relaxed circumstances, perhaps together with his family that time around.

The man was desperate for our vote.

How we would have loved it if he had spoken this before CNN, BBC, Sky News and all the other international news agencies!

As usual, those news agencies might have chosen to omit that or used the story with their usual twist to suit their anti-Zimbabwe stance but some other agency would have reported it correctly.

There is no doubt Howard would have done that because of the reason for his visit. He wanted us to support his bid to be elected vice president of the ICC.

The man was down on his knees.

He was at our mercy.

And all this would not necessarily translate into a vote to support his bid to become vice president of ICC in Singapore. Absolutely no!

I don’t know how David Coltart feels about it but we must at least credit him for bringing us Howard on a silver plate.

We could have done whatever we wished to with him but we didn’t take the chance! It might not have meant much but in this world where we are fighting tooth and nail against the machinations by the powerful and highly organised and well-funded Rhodesian lobby spawned all over the West, every little thing that we do counts.

Talking about the Rhodesian mentality, it’s amazing how it is still reflected in our midst. Nathaniel Manheru’s contribution in The Herald on Saturday last week went a long way to describe it in the private media. But I cannot help adding one more frightening example. Last Sunday’s issue of The Standard carried a cartoon about Brazil’s painful exit from the World Cup in South Africa. It depicted the Brazillian coach, Dunga telling a journalist: “My boys played well. But I think we were cursed by that country that we played friendly with.”

The question that immediately comes to one’s mind is whether the cartoonist is Zimbabwean or not. The love for one’s country cannot be imposed on any person. It is instinctive. In our culture, it’s like the love for one’s biological parents. No matter how much you might disagree with them, it’s unthinkable to disown them. In fact, it is impossible to disown them.

The cartoonist is literally disowning his country, that is if he is Zimbabwean. He makes reference to the country as if it’s another country that he happens to be making a glossing comment over.

If the cartoonist comes from this country, he is displaying a frightening Rhodesian mentality. The Rhodesians do not believe in Zimbabwe. If they had their way, they would bring back Rhodesia and they do not hide the fact.

While most people agree the visit by the Brazilian team, which was beamed live to more than 60 countries, helped tremendously to allay the perception that the country was lawless and chaotic, that nothing functioned any more, that the people were violent and unfriendly, the cartoonist tragically helps to perpetuate this misconception.

That is why it is difficult to believe he could be Zimbabwean because a Zimbabwean cannot condemn his country to that extent even if there may be many things that he does not agree with.

While the Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, is pleading with the KPCS to grant the country a certificate to enable us to sell our diamonds and get the much needed money to kick-start the economic recovery efforts, some young Zimbabweans, representing Crisis International, are arguing we should not get the certificate purportedly in the interests of the Zimbabwean people. They were there on television a few weeks ago.

What interests of Zimbabweans can an NGO called Crisis International represent that the inclusive government is unable to do?

It eventually required government intervention to also suspend sales of diamonds from River Ranch and Murowa mines because the definition ‘blood’ diamonds had been inexplicably confined to mean only diamonds from Chiadzwa.

There is nowhere in the world where anyone has ever heard such shameless hypocrisy.

A long time ago when Nathaniel Manheru discontinued his column in The Herald on Saturday, I am one of those people who mourned his sudden exit because I wanted him to continue his political duels with The Independent’s Muckracker.

Well, he has returned and the debates are increasingly becoming so one-sided. Muckraker mirrors the dilemma of the so-called independent press in the country since the formation of the inclusive government.

The people are tired of being fed with messages of endless conflict and painful images of hopelessness, which continues to be the main recipe of the private media. People might have liked it during the height of our crisis, when there was no solution in sight.

The formation of the inclusive government has provided people with hope, the people love their country and want it to pull out of the crisis.

They want to read hopeful stories about themselves and the future of their country not gloom and predictions of a pending collapse; it’s as simple as that.

The British might disagree over their costly adventure in Afghanistan but that disagreement is never allowed to sway their total support for their men fighting there and their media reflects it.

If any of their papers dares to support the Taliban, there would be an uproar from the public.

It would be promptly accused of treason, even banned. That is what is called patriotism.

We had a completely different story when our men were fighting in the DRC several years ago. Some of our so-called independent papers behaved as if they were published and controlled in Kigali and we were supposed to view that as ‘freedom of the press.’

Now, that stance has come to haunt them in the current political dispensation. They have nowhere to hide their Rhodesian mentality.

They are unrepentant Rhodesians with men placed in strategic positions in almost all NGOs around the world to influence the West’s opinion on Zimbabwe because they still dream of getting back to what they consider ‘their’ farms.

The Zimbabwe Media Commission has licensed several papers to begin publishing.

If they come onto the streets and push the Rhodesian anti-Zimbabwe agenda that sold papers like The Daily News because they were hiding behind the MDC, they might just be in for a rude awakening.

Even if they give away the papers for free, they might still discover people want to read more hopeful messages about themselves and their country.

Because honestly, it will be difficult to convince anyone that Crisis International represents the interests of Zimbabweans more than the inclusive government does, as those poor fellows tried to tell us on television.

It will be even more difficult to convince anyone that Rio Tinto, a foreign company, can sell its diamonds because they are ‘clean’ whereas Mbada, an indigenious company, cannot because its diamonds are ‘blood’.

But because they have no shame, they will attempt to do just that.

We should not get completely surprised if former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, decides to pay us a surprise visit in the future for whatever reason.

Rather than hype on our past disagreements with him, we should think wisely on how to turn such a visit into a political advantage for the country.

As they say in football, we will live to rue John Howard’s visit that we allowed to go begging.

Chronicle

8 July 2010

By Makhosi Sibanda

The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart has called for compulsory and free primary education in the new constitution.

Minister Coltart told Chronicle in a telephone interview that education was a basic human right and children needed to be afforded that right through the constitution.

“Free education for all children should be made a constitutional right in line with the international convention of children’s rights,” he said.

Minister Coltart said whilst most educational issues were not included in the constitution, but were contained in international convention of children’s rights, which Zimbabwe was signatory to.

“It states that every child should be compulsory and free education and as a ministry, we feel that should be enshrined in the constitution that we are working on,” he said.

Minister Coltart said the government should make a commitment to this guarantee though its reality was threatened by lack of resources.

“Constitutional rights apply equally to children and adults and we are saying that children should also be granted freedom of expression, access to information and other rights just like adults,” said Minister Coltart.

Minister Coltart said there was a need to balance these constitutional rights as they could prove detrimental to the very beneficiaries.

“We need to ensure that our children are not exposed to pornographic material, but should be afforded a conducive learning environment to enhance their academic growth,” he said.