The Sunday News
Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom, said George Washington Carver, an American scientist who was born into slavery but defied all odds to climb to the top of the social ladder.
Carver’s reputation is based on his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes, which also aided nutrition for farm families. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops both as a source of their own food and as a source of other products to improve their quality of life.
He spoke of education as a key factor in one’s life, a factor that can change people’s lives for the better. Many children who were born in remote areas in the country whose parents cannot afford to enrol them in mission or boarding school or even move them to urban set ups, they remain in darkness in as far as life progression is concerned as long as they are not given education, sound education for that matter. If their situation is not addressed, they can not climb the social ladder like Carver.
Former South African president, the late Nelson Mandela said “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” But we note that the world for the young children in rural Matabeleland North in some districts of Hwange and Binga, the desire to attain freedom and changing the world through education will remain a pipe dream as they are still subjected to poor learning environments where they do not even have teachers. Without teachers, there is no proper learning that can take place, period.
We reported last week that at least four schools in Hwange District might be forced to close while several others in other districts in Matabeleland North are being run by skeleton staff including village heads, owing to a shortage of staff following the ban on re-engagement of temporary teachers and the shunning of the schools by qualified teachers.
In addition, in Matabeleland South, although officials said there was no school which was in danger of closing, they said 80 percent of the primary schools do not have Early Childhood Development teachers and pupils are either taught by non-ECD teachers or are not being taught at all.
Investigations have, however, revealed that in Hwange District, Kandebwe, Msuna, Nengasha and Najepwa primary schools do not have qualified teachers and in some cases parents have pooled resources and employed a temporary teacher to administer and teach all the classes.
At Kandebwe Primary School which is 80 kilometres from Hwange town, it was observed that the school has since the beginning of the term been run by a village head in the area after all qualified teachers left and the Government did not renew the contracts for temporary teachers who were at the school.
Hwange district education officer Mr Lovemore Nyoni confirmed the situation in the district.
“Yes, we have challenges of some schools lacking qualified teachers, a situation that has been worsened by the freeze on employment of temporary teachers and has seen some schools being run by temporary teachers employed by the School Development Committee.
The location of the schools and lack of proper infrastructure are some of the factors that are affecting the district’s ability to retain qualified teachers. It is unfortunate that our district which has a high number of untrained teachers has over the years been relying on locally trained teachers which is no longer happening,” he said.
Nonetheless, we implore the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to look at the case with the urgency it deserves because the future of children is at stake here.
There is no doubt that the country produces a high number of qualified teachers year in year out, but they don’t want to work in remote areas because conditions are not favourable, and we believe that the Ministry can work with Non-Governmental Organisations and parents to alleviate the situation by providing accommodation and running water at the least.
Most rural areas do not have electricity but staff cottages for teachers can be powered with solar gadgets, at least, to make life a bit more comfortable for teachers.
Zimbabwe prides itself with high levels of education and we cannot afford to dent that record by turning a blind eye to negative things happening in remote areas.
