Non-Ndebele speaking teachers, Dokora summoned

SENIOR Minister of State in the President's Office, Simon Khaya Moyo, has summoned Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Lazarus Dokora, to explain the policy of engaging non-Ndebele speaking teachers in the Matabeleland region.

The matter has for the past couple of weeks raised the ire of a number of academics, who have blamed it for contributing to low pass rates in primary schools in the region.

Responding to a question by Zanu-PF Matabeleland North member, Christopher Ndiweni, at a Matabeleland crisis indaba held in Bulawayo yesterday, Moyo confirmed that the matter was now a topical issue which was the reason he had summoned Dokora to explain his ministry's policy on the matter and how they would address it.

Khaya Moyo said it did not make any sense to have a teacher who could not even pronounce a single Ndebele word teach Grade One pupils.

"It boggles the mind that you find a teacher here in Matabeleland who cannot even say salibonani, litshonanjani, then what would you expect them to teach a pupil that very language. It is just like a blind person leading another blind person, in such a situation can we say this teacher is teaching or cheating.

"That is the reason I had to summon Minister Dokora to come and explain to me what they are doing to address such problems because this cannot be allowed to continue as at the end of the day we are paying that teacher essentially for nothing," said Khaya Moyo.

He said in an informal discussion with Dokora, he had even suggested that they develop some crash programme for teachers for them to be conversant with the languages in the regions they were teaching.

Moyo said Government's aim was to ensure that by next year they would have got rid of such disparities.

"We want teachers who can communicate, not the current situation that when you get to a class the teacher is just staring at the pupils as they will not be able to communicate with them. I will, therefore, make sure that by end of this year we would have made significant progress in implementing these crash programmes.

"What you should realise is that this is not just a problem in Matabeleland alone but across all schools, that is why I have sent a clear message to Dokora that it should be addressed. Take me, for example, on Monday I will be addressing in Mt Darwin, I won't talk to them in Kalanga or Ndebele but Shona, that is what we want, everyone is Zimbabwean that is why people must appreciate all the languages in the country," he said.

Moyo said this was not a matter of tribalism but it was about learning each other's languages and being sincere in improving the education system.

"I know that Dokora is not part of this meeting today but as the senior minister, I have taken it upon myself to handle this matter because at the end of the day the ministers are accountable to the people and if the people complain so be it," he said.

The issue of non-Ndebele speaking teachers has been brought up at a number of forums with the latest being a workshop on indigenous languages and non-fiction writing organised by the Zimbabwe Academic and Non-fiction Authors Association (Zana) Bulawayo chapter, where the deputy provincial education director for Bulawayo province, Mr Richard Swene, blasted the Civil Service Commission for employing primary school teachers whose first language was not Ndebele.

A few months ago Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in the Metropolitan Province of Bulawayo, Nomthandazo Eunice Moyo, shot down a proposal in the National Assembly that locals should be given preference in employment and education opportunities.

The minister argued that she was not a tribalist hence she would not support such calls.

Her statement was met with mixed feelings from educationists and analysts who accused the Government of letting down the education sector by creating a handicap that could easily be avoided, which goes on to affect the overall pass rate within the schools.

Meanwhile, the senior minister revealed that they would soon be passing into law, new requirements pertaining to the appointment of people into various boards.

"You might have realised that already the ministers are appointing board members from all the regions in the country. This is deliberate, what we are now saying is that someone cannot be part of more than two boards and they can just go for two terms.

"We are getting rid of this scenario where just a few individuals are rotating around all the boards. We want variety and we want all regions to be equally represented," said Khaya Moyo.