Failed government to blame for sorry state of schools

Politics
AS the curtain comes down on the inclusive government formed in 2009, it is important that we take stock of its achievements and failures

AS the curtain comes down on the inclusive government formed in 2009, it is important that we take stock of its achievements and failures.

Southern Eye Editorial This is necessary because the three parties — Zanu PF, MDC and MDC-T — are canvassing for our votes again.

To measure their performance we need to remind ourselves of the promises they made before they were given the mandate. Some of the promises have been repeated since 1980 and are yet to be fulfilled.

Our attention today is on education which President Robert Mugabe usually flaunts as his major achievement since coming into power at independence. There is no denying that there was a leap in education standards in the early years of independence, which was shown by Zimbabwe’s very high literacy rate that is among the highest in Africa.

However, as demonstrated by a story we carried yesterday about the sorry state of rural schools in the Midlands Province, those achievements are being reversed faster than they were attained.

Education minister David Coltart came face to face with the tragedy when he toured the rural schools recently. At some schools students sat as two different classes side by side as they learnt in the open despite the freezing temperatures. Silobela legislator Anadu Silulu revealed that there was hardly any learning at most of the schools during the rainy season because all students and teachers would be forced into single classrooms available in the schools, to hide from the rain.

Most of the schools, we reported, often record zero percent pass rates. We were also reminded of the sad story of former Gandavaroyi Primary School headmaster Peter Chihiya who wrote Grade 7 national examinations for 32 pupils at his Gokwe school in an attempt to have someone passing from his school. Chihiya was smoked out, arrested and found guilty of fraud. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Without trying to condone criminal activity, the former school head’s behaviour aptly demonstrates the level of desperation at these schools. Coltart has fought a lone battle during the tenure of the inclusive government trying to re-equip the schools with textbooks and other materials.

He mobilised several donors who chipped in with material and financial resources. But his efforts were not complemented by the inclusive government which continued to pay lip service to education, as the sector remained heavily underfunded.

The state of rural schools in the Midlands and other parts of the country will bear testimony to this inclusive government’s ineptitude and misplaced priorities.