Speaking to SW Radio Africa on Monday Coltart said: The ideal amount
of money we need is US$438million, and that is just for the first six
months. Now in the current economic climate and in the context of world
recession that is a completely unattainable figure. So we have to cut
it. So we are hoping to raise US$80million.
On Monday Coltart had a marathon meeting with representatives of
teachers unions, to discuss issues concerning teachers who have been on
strike for much of last year. They have finally agreed to go back to
work but were still finalising the details of their grievances with the
Education Minister.
The teachers had been demanding wages of US$2300 a month but have had
to scale down dramatically after the new inclusive government said it
had no money, but was prepared to offer a US$100 starter pack.
By late afternoon on Monday, Coltart said no final agreement had been
reached, but he was hopeful schools would open on 2nd March.
Raymond Majongwe, Secretary General of the militant Progressive
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), said Friday that teachers had
finally agreed to return to work after an initial meeting, and had been
given some assurances by the new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
new Minister of Education – who were both accommodative and willing to
listen to their grievances. Majongwe said this was unlike former
education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere, who would not engage with them.
Coltart said the assurances offered to teachers included fair salaries
and amnesty for those who are concerned they will be victimised and
dismissed for not going to work when schools were supposed to open on
27th January.
But Coltart said: My single minded goal is to get the schools reopened
and teachers back at work. I am very sympathetic to the fact that many
of the teachers who didn't report for duty simply couldn't, because
they didn't even have enough money for bus fare.
Zimbabwe used to have the highest literacy rate in Africa, but because
of the political and economic crisis tens of thousands of qualified
teachers have left the country.
Majongwe said in 2005/2006 there were about 115 000 teachers in the
country but that number has dwindled to between 70 000 and 80 000. At
PTUZ we maintain that there are 70 000 teachers and of the 70 000, 40
000 teachers are non-qualified teachers. These are people who have been
brought in as relief teachers, some of them as spies, and some of them
just as gap fillers.
A number of teachers were in recent years trained through the
controversial and notorious Border Gezi youth training camps. These
were the camps that created violent thugs who caused untoward suffering
to opponents of the Mugabe regime.Â
The PTUZ leader said it will take several years to see positive changes
because we are talking of schools that don't have teachers, that don't
have desks, that don't have window panes, that don't have doors. The
doors were being taken off the walls by the war veterans, they were
making coffins out of them, they were taking window panes and taking
them to their houses and they were burning desks.
It is quite sad and my heart bleeds when I look back to say why did
this destruction happen? Because somebody or the Minister of Education
Chigwedere did not have the guts to stand up to the people who were
moving around destroying our schools wantonly and in a barbaric manner
what happened in the years from 2002.
The challenges for the new education minister are many, with raising
money being the major priority. Coltart said UNICEF was helping to put
donor organisations and governments in contact with the Zimbabwean
officials but it is yet unclear where the money might come from. The
minister said teachers account for almost two thirds of all civil
servants in Zimbabwe and paying teachers just US$100 will cost his
ministry US$8million for just one month.