Stop basking in the shadow of a long gone education glory, Zimbabweans warned

The education minister David Coltart says Zimbabweans should stop basking in the shadow of a long gone education glory.

Coltart said government should quit priding Zimbabwe as an education haven because resource constraints have seriously compromised the sector.

"The foundation of our education sector is still strong. We have good basic curriculum, highly qualified teachers, a deep-rooted passion for education exhibited by parents, guardians and the children themselves.

"There is no doubt it ends at the foundation, the rest of the structure is in a crisis, the teachers' morale is now gone and seriously education is underfunded.

"There is a danger that we assume that because education was strong in the past then it will continue like that. We will be wrong. That is not the case anymore," Coltart told the Daily News on Sunday.

Zimbabwe's much touted literacy rate of more than 90 percent has been disputed as outdated since the figures are based on data collected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and the government more than a decade ago.

Coltart said though government was making "notable" moves towards addressing the welfare of teachers, there were other educational needs that seriously require redress.

"I commend the government for constantly engaging teachers representatives to address remuneration issues but outstanding none salary issues are still a problem. Every day I receive messages from parents complaining over lack of proper infrastructure.

"There are many schools without desks, stationery, classrooms and the children in resettled areas are literally learning in tobacco barns. Unless we address those challenges we will not go far, even the best teacher will struggle to teach inadequately clothed and hungry children in a barn," said Coltart.

Coltart emphasised the need for government to prioritise education and castigated the extensive travel expenditure by leaders at the expense of more deserving areas.

"Ironically, the amounts we are spending on addressing educational needs are still very tiny compared to what we are spending on defence, security and foreign travel.

"The glory we have been enjoying now is a result of government's investment in the first 10 years of independence," he said.

According to the 2012 national budget, Education got $14,8 million to cater for the country's three million children while President Robert Mugabe's office and Cabinet received $70 million, defence $66 million and Home Affairs $30 million.

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