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'Mugabe's govt sabotaging Matabeleland education,' says Zimta
24 May 2017 at 06:25hrs | Views
Zimbabwe Teachers Association chief executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu has accused President Robert Mugabe's Government of sabotaging education in Matabeleland by proposing to shut down 40 schools in Matabeleland South.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango on Monday said schools in the province are not viable hence they should be closed.
According to Ndlovu, there is no such thing as an unviable school.
He said it was pure sabotage.
"The Government is actually sabotaging the education agenda. We are going back to the situation where the children of the poor community and impoverished communities will be left out.
"I don't subscribe to the notion that there are some unviable schools. I subscribe to the philosophy that there is unviable financing of education because those small schools are a result of community and settlement patterns. So we cannot go on and try to justify our inability to support those schools under the pretext of saying they are unviable," he said.
"What do you mean by unviable? Do you mean that you cannot find teachers to teach those children when our philosophy is that no one should be excluded from learning?".
Various pressure group and human rights bodies have condemned such moves by government.
They questioned why such drastic plans are been carried out in Matabeleland only.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango on Monday said schools in the province are not viable hence they should be closed.
According to Ndlovu, there is no such thing as an unviable school.
He said it was pure sabotage.
"The Government is actually sabotaging the education agenda. We are going back to the situation where the children of the poor community and impoverished communities will be left out.
"I don't subscribe to the notion that there are some unviable schools. I subscribe to the philosophy that there is unviable financing of education because those small schools are a result of community and settlement patterns. So we cannot go on and try to justify our inability to support those schools under the pretext of saying they are unviable," he said.
"What do you mean by unviable? Do you mean that you cannot find teachers to teach those children when our philosophy is that no one should be excluded from learning?".
Various pressure group and human rights bodies have condemned such moves by government.
They questioned why such drastic plans are been carried out in Matabeleland only.
Source - Byo24News
