HARARE Teaching has become a high-risk occupation in Zimbabwes rural areas where teachers often fall victim to politically motivated violence and abuse, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said. In a speech to the annual conference of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) last week, Tsvangirai said it was saddening that the countrys teachers had borne the brunt of the political strife and economic collapse of the past decade. The job of a teacher has become a high-risk occupation in the rural areas due to political prosecution, Tsvangirai said, in the speech that was read on his behalf by Minister of State in the Prime Ministers office, Godern Moyo.
In the run-up to the 2008 second round presidential election, scores of teachers were killed by state security agents and Zanu (PF) militia while hundreds of others were forced to flee their posts due to political violence in rural areas. But Tsvangirai said that the coalition government was not going to allow the victimisation of teachers. Let me assure you that this government is committed to correcting this situation and placing teachers at the forefront of our national development, he said.
The Prime Minister lamented the poor salaries and working conditions of teachers but was quick to add that the coalition government was committed to addressing their plight. He said: The government is committed to ensuring that teachers received not only the remuneration deserving of such an important profession but also the recognition of the role that you play within our nation. Indeed, there is no more important priority than the education of our children. Indeed teachers are the bedrocks upon which generational futures are sealed.
Detailing how the key education sector has been starved of resources over the past decade, Tsvangirai said in the first decade after independence the government committed between 20-22 percent of budget towards education, supporting infrastructure development. But 20 years later, the government paid literally nothing towards the school per capital grant, he said. In the 1980s, at most two pupils shared a textbook while today many schools have no textbooks at all (and) teachers allowances are not sufficient to represent suitable remuneration.
The Premier said the government was working with local and international partners to mobilise funds and other resources required to provide infrastructure such as classrooms, laboratories desks and chairs for schools.
He said the government had set up the Education Transition Fund he said had so far clinched deals to produce 13 million textbooks by the end of this year for primary
schools, focusing on four core areas, English, Mathematics, Environment Science and indigenous languages, including Kalanga, Nambia, Venda and Tonga.
Post published in: News