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SENATE HANSARD 27 October 2015 25-12
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Tuesday, 27th October, 2015
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(MADAM PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE in the Chair)
MOTION
ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR
HON. SEN. GOTO: I move the motion standing in my name that the House;
MINDFUL of the great strides that Government has made in raising the literacy rate of the people in the country, through the provision of affordable educational programmes;
COGNISANT that providing education to the people empowers them as “knowledge is power”;
NOW, THEREFORE, commends the Government and the people of Zimbabwe for the success they have achieved in making Zimbabwe one of the countries with high literacy rates in Africa.
HON. SEN. BHOBHO: I second.
HON. SEN. GOTO: Madam President, I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity to move my motion on Achievements in the Education Sector. When Zimbabwe gained independence from colonial rule in April 1980, the majority of the people did not have the opportunity and facilities for equal access to formal education. The education system was very restrictive for the black population and most only finished six or seven years of primary schooling.
To ensure success in its endeavours, Zimbabwe set its own national goals and also worked in collaboration with the international community to pursue a number of goals set at international level to give it focus. From the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) defined in September 2000 by the United Nations, Zimbabwe focused on the following two targets:
- To achieve universal primary education by ensuring that between 2000 and 2015, all Zimbabwean children, boys or girls alike will be able to complete a full programme of primary education.
- To promote gender equality and empower women by eliminating gender disparities in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005 and at all levels by 2015.
Madam President, below is a summary of some of the specific achievements in the sector since independence:
1. Increase in access to education
To meet increasing demand for education, Zimbabwe carried out massive expansion of schools and enrolment since independence in
- The table below shows the number of schools by level between 1980 and 2014. Primary schools almost doubled while secondary schools increased by almost thirteen fold. The significant increase in the number of schools was 3 462 for primary and 2 247 for secondary.
Overally, the number of schools increased by 5 709.
Table 1: Number of schools by level, 1980 and 2014
| Enrolment | 1980 | 2014 | Net increase | % increase |
| Primary | 2 401 | 5 863 | 3 462 | 144% |
| Secondary | 177 | 2 424 | 2 247 | 1 269% |
| Total | 2 578 | 8 287 | 5 709 | 221% |
Source: Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education
2. Increase in enrolment
The table below shows enrolment by level in 1980 and 2014. The significant increase in enrolments at primary and secondary level from 1980 to 2014 are 1 850 572 and 905 323 respectively. Hence, the education system managed to enroll 2 755 895 learners.
Table 2: Enrolments by level, 1980 and 2014
| Enrolment | 1980 | 2014 | Net Increase | Percentage
Increase |
| Primary | 1 235 944 | 3 086 516 | 1 850 572 | 150% |
| Secondary | 74 321 | 979 644 | 905 323 | 1218% |
| Total | 1 312 245 | 4 068 174 | 27 558 895 | 210% |
Source: Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education
3. Access to Education by Gender
The table below shows percentages of girls and boys and the Gender Parity Index (GPI) between 1980 and 2014. Gender balance was achieved by 2014 at secondary school level. Access to education by the girl child increased from 47% in 1980 to 51% in 2014 for the primary schools and 44% in 1980 to 50% in 2014 for the secondary schools.
Table 3: Percentage of Girls and Boys and GP between 1980 and
2012
| ENROLMENT | 1980 | 2014 | ||||
| BOYS | GIRLS | GPI | BOYS | GIRLS | GPI | |
| PRIMARY | 53% | 47% | 0.89 | 49% | 51% | 1.04 |
| SECONDARY | 56% | 44% | 0.79 | 50% | 50% | 1.00 |
Source: Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education
4. Literacy Rate
Zimbabwe became one of the leading countries in literacy in the world due to investments made in education since 1980. In 1980, the literacy rate was 82% and rose to 92.4% in 2014.
5. Early Childhood Development Education
At independence in the Division of African Education, the child going age was set at 7 years and there was no pre-school learning.
However, after the 1999 Commission of Inquiry into Education and
Training, ECD centres have reached a total of 9000, with approximately
6000 in rural areas and 3000 in the urban areas. Nevertheless, only 3500 centres were registered with the Ministry. In 2006, ECD became part of the Zimbabwe formal education and by 2014, almost 99% of primary schools were offering ECD learning.
6. Quality of Education
At Independence there was gross inequality as far as education was concerned. There were two divisions namely:
- The European education called Group A schools, where a better curriculum was offered.
- The African education called F1 and F2, where the curriculum offered prohibited advancement into tertiary education and the job market.
In 1998, His Excellency, the President, set up the Presidential
Commission of Inquiry into Education Training, to investigate how education provision can be improved in Zimbabwe. In 1999, the Zimbabwe system of education was reviewed and opened up opportunities for advancement. In 2013, there was another curriculum review which aimed to match the education system to the demand of socio-economic transformation.
Government also introduced a deliberate skills based initiative to complement the quantitative changes to education provision. Policies such as the ‘Education with Production’ that came with the introduction of more Vocational Training Colleges increased the country’s skills base. In 2003 and 2006, the Two Pathway Approach to Education was introduced to vocationalise the education system in order to promote its relevance.
7. Teacher Qualification and Establishment
To improve the quality of education, Zimbabwe embarked on a massive training of teachers through ZINTEC College. The number of primary teachers increased from 28 455 in 1980 to 66 092 in 2014 and the number of secondary school teachers increased from 3 730 in 1980 to 32 171 in 2014. The Ministry came up with the Capacity Development Programme for Teachers to develop them in order to address gaps in the system. The Ministry is facing a critical shortage of mathematics, science and ICT teachers, which are critical for the socioeconomic development of a country. There are 1 753 teachers who are on Teacher Capacity Development in 2015.
8. Tertiary Education
Great strides have been made in tertiary education where the number of State universities has increased from 1 in 1980 to 9 to date.
There are 6 private universities in the country which are complementing State universities, especially in provinces where the State universities have not yet been established. There has been an increase in university enrolments following the opening of new universities in Zimbabwe.
9. Non-Formal Education
Zimbabwe is moving towards universal literacy. On 5th March, 2015, the Ministry launched the Non-Formal Education Policy. Currently, the magnitude of out of school children, which is around 1 234 641 between 3-16 years was identified.
10. Infrastructure Development
The Government has prioritised the establishment and construction of new schools. At least one Government secondary school was established in each rural district. The walking distance at primary school was reduced from more than 10km in 1980 to 5km in 2012. The Government is targeting to build 2 056 new schools in order to decongest mega schools in urban settlements and establish new schools in new rural settlements.
Challenges in the Education Sector
It is sad to note that some of the gains in education are being undermined by various factors such as ‘brain drain’, HIV/AIDS and a low life expectancy, which is set at 40 years. This has left some children heading families. In addition, some children are walking very long distances to schools. Infrastructure in some schools needs improvement.
Madam President, in order to maintain our achievements, I implore
Government to consider the following recommendations;
- Improve funding for the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) and expand the program to cater for school fees to the girl child.
- Stabilise the macro-economic environment.
- Salaries and conditions of service for lecturers and teachers in general and for those in remote and rural areas should be improved.
- Establish a Graduate Investment Fund to promote selfemployment generation by graduates from tertiary institutions and universities.
- Increase budgets for teaching materials.
- Stakeholder empowerment in schools affairs should be encouraged.
- Target stipends for girls, and children of the street and street children.
- Involve mothers in school committees.
Madam President, I would like to conclude by thanking His
Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe for initiating the Presidential Scholarship Scheme (PSS) – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.] – That has benefited many disadvantaged young Zimbabweans to go and learn at South African Universities. He has also donated computers and various learning materials to a number of schools across the country. I thank you Madam President. [HON. SENATORS: Hear,
hear.]-
*HON. SEN. BHOBHO: Thank you Madam President, for giving me this opportunity to add my voice on the motion that was raised by Hon. Sen. Goto to remind us of what happened in this country since independence on the issue of education that was of low quality in this country. It shows that the colonialists thought that education would continue to deteriorate but we realised that education has improved in Zimbabwe. She has explained the schools that were available which were few in numbers and were used by the colonialists to disadvantage us. Since independence, there has been an increase in schools and a lot has happened in the education sector and children were able to be educated in different areas. Schools were built in various areas and teachers were trained in so many colleges in order to enable education.
Schools have been built in the newly resettled areas and universities have also increased and this shows that the mover of the motion knows the history of this nation. We applaud the President for the work he has done in order to develop this country. It is now a nation among other nations with a high number of educated people from the period when we were disadvantaged of education.
We are well educated because our President does not rest. There are so many graduations that are taking place in various universities. It was a surprise realising that a neighbor’s child was a graduate but nowadays, it is no longer something much out of the ordinary. People are learning and they are graduating.
Adult education has also been introduced. The President enabled
Adult Literacy to be introduced so that everyone is able to read and write. So, we want to thank the Hon. Senator for moving this motion so that this House can have something to say and acknowledge the fact that we have a good President who is well educated and has wisdom.
The White men who came from America thought they were so educated but they were not educated at all. They were referred to as the small bosses and they were only told to run the farm/area for three years and they would displace our fellow Africans and take over the area. So, the President was able to come up with polices that ensured that education became important. These are the few words that I wanted to add to Senator Goto’s motion who has reminded people on the status of our education system since independence. I thank you Madam President.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: Thank you Madam President. I also rise to support the motion which was brought in by Hon. Sen. Goto and seconded by Hon. Sen. Bhobho. In her presentation she has outlined generally how education has developed from 1980 up to the present moment. I also want to give further examples of how our education developed, especially quantitatively.
Madam President, those of my age and others in this House remember very well that the quality of education has developed quite a lot. Not only from independence, and if we compare it before independence - you will see that the Government of Zimbabwe has done quite a lot – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]- There is tremendous development and I want to give examples. The quality of education in Zimbabwe today is shown by high points which our pupils score at all levels, locally and abroad if we compare them with other nations. Several accolades have been given and scholarships awarded to excelling Zimbabweans all over the world at many institutions and many forums. Evidence of tremendous improvements also Madam President of our education can be indicated by the ever rising entry qualifications at different levels of our educational institutions.
Before independence, in order to get into a university you just needed two points that was that. Those who did degrees by then remember that they did not score higher than five or points. Today you cannot get entry with two points at any university in Zimbabwe. That shows how the quest for education has improved especially among the Black people.
I want to single out the Black people because before that we were oppressed. We did not go very far with education because the education favoured - as Hon. Sen. Goto said, there was European education and African education. Those who managed to go through the bottleneck could just score two or three points and get a university degree.
Even today, the average entry points for university in Zimbabwe is about seven and eight points, anything below that, you might not even secure a diploma or a degree place in Zimbabwe. If you go outside to our neighbouring countries, five points is enough or even below you can get a university degree. That again shows that Zimbabweans have lifted the bar very high there, so that is why we are excelling in education. That shows that the quality of education is improving tremendously. A person educated in Zimbabwe can go anywhere and work anywhere but the others who will go outside there, if you get a degree may be in Sierra
Leone and come back here, it might not be accepted...
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, that is not
a very diplomatic statement, so maybe I will advise you to withdraw naming a country.
HON. SENATOR MUMVURI: Madam President, with your
indulgence, I withdraw naming of the country. What I am saying is that
Zimbabwe has set very high standards as compared to other countries. However, having said and celebrated those achievements in our education system, there is a missing link which has been inadequate in our education system.
THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Order, maybe I
need to explain to the Senate why I need to ask Senator Mumvuri to withdraw. There is no way say for the Minister of Education in Sierra Leone, can come and argue that point in this Senate. It is not prudent, that is why I had to ask the hon. senator to withdraw that particular comparison and mentioning a specific country. You may continue.
HON. SENATOR MUMVURI: Thank you Madam President
again for advising me accordingly. I was saying now the missing link is we have not been focusing on training in our education on Science and Mathematics subjects adequately. It is now a debate in this country that we must focus on the development of Science and Mathematics starting at primary, even at kindergarten level, Early Child Development (E.C.D) and so forth.
Several questions have been asked and have been explained by the two line ministries of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development and Primary and Secondary Education. They are now focusing a lot of their energies to rectify this anomaly for our country to develop and unlock our potential in developing most of the economical spheres in the country because those need scientific approach. The days are gone where people shun Mathematics and English so that they avoid them and yet there are the basic tenets of developing the country forward. Otherwise I totally agree with the mover and the seconder that education in Zimbabwe has developed tremendously both in quality and in quantity.
With those few words, Madam President, I say this is my contribution, thank you.
HON. SENATOR CHIMHINI: Thank you Madam President. I
stand to support the motion moved by Senator Goto seconded by Senator Bhobho. It is true that education in Zimbabwe is one of the best and we have no doubt about that. However, we should not sit on our laurels for there is also a danger that we relax and the education system may not remain the best in Africa or in the world. While I commend the points raised by Senator Goto, there are few issues that I think we need to look
The first one is that we need to monitor and supervise our education system in the schools. We have so many schools that are mushrooming and personally, I am convinced that the education sector or the Ministry is able to supervise or to establish what is happening in all those schools that are mushrooming in almost every corner. I understand the Minister at one time said we are working on that but that may not be good enough. We want to know the time frame when schools that are being established would be properly registered, supervised and monitored. This is the only way we can maintain the education system being the best in Africa.
We also need to look at staff motivation. Year in year out, we have teachers complaining about their conditions of service. At one time we were assured that the Ministry is going to do something in terms of assisting the teachers either getting loans for them to purchase motor vehicles or get residential stands. Whatever can be done to motivate the teachers, I think this is the time to do it. If we want to maintain quality education, the teachers must be motivated and I am not convinced that the Government has done sufficiently enough to make sure that our teachers are enjoying their work. Teachers should not be again running away from the country as they did at some point.
It is also important that we may start looking at having teachers falling under a teaching council rather than the teaching service. I am saying this because once we have a teaching council, we are now assured that you professionalise the teaching service in the country. I am not sure whether the teachers for now are happy to operate under the Public Service Commission. It would be better if they form their own Commission just as we have a Health Commission in this country; we professionalize the work that the teachers do.
I also want to suggest that we need to work seriously towards 20% budget allocation for education. We always talk about monies but if we have a specific budget allocation, I think education can be properly funded just like we are asking for health to be funded around 15%. I think when we talk about the Nziramasanga report, it may just remain a report, and we may now need to popularise the Nziramasanga report so that ordinary people in the villages know exactly what that report says. If we do that, we will definitely come up with quality education in this country.
I want to say in terms of Mathematics and Science; we need to have a proper research. Is it poor teaching in the schools? Are our children having lower intelligence quotient? Why is it that we are having poor results in Science and Mathematics? These are the questions I would want us as senators to go around and find out exactly what is happening. If we do that, we may be assisting in terms of coming up and maintaining our quality education. I thank you Madam President.
*HON. SENATOR MAWIRE: Thank you Madam President, I
would like to add my voice to this motion moved by Senator Goto and seconded by Senator Bhobho. I want to thank Senator Goto as this is a very important motion. You have made us realise the journey that we have walked in the past and where we are at present. We are able to discern the weaknesses in the education system because we are educated in Zimbabwe. It was because of a deliberate thrust that was taken after observing that our education was of low standard in the 1980s. I recall that at the time when we were going to school, girls were not given the same chances to access education as boys. Our mothers only went as far as Standard 3. I recollect her telling me so, that they would not go beyond that and others would not even proceed beyond Grade 7. Very few would go to boarding schools to do secondary education. I recall that at one time when I was at the boarding school, I was told tough words that I could fall pregnant and that I would be proud because I had been sent to attain higher education which was not the real thing.
After the war of liberation struggle, among other objectives were to uplift our education and that we be able to lead our own country and be masters of our own destiny. As women, we are very grateful. We heard that in the past, there were statistics which showed that there were certain children that attended school at a particular year, and the levels of education that they attained and the type of education that they were subjected to. I am pleased to speak about this issue which has been raised by Hon. Senator Goto. I observed that girls started going to school and they were being uplifted during the later part of the 1980s. Initially, we were afraid about the number of girls that were now attaining secondary education.
Today, the statistics are quite high. I had not done a deeper research on the number of girls that have attained secondary education. I should have brought these statistics to support this motion strongly. My feeling and what I have heard as a leader in my province is that in the universities and polytechnic colleges, more girls are now at these institutions than boys. This is all because of the leader of this country who appreciated that without education, there will be no nation. I want to thank His Excellency the President of our country. If you were to observe in terms of education, the boys at the moment are no longer as intelligent as the girls in terms of the pass rate. The girls’ pass rate is better than that of the boys.
I am grateful to Hon. Senator Goto for this motion that she has raised. The colonial education system tended to oppress the blacks and even the disabled. They were not giving ample opportunities to those that were disabled. Some parents would keep away from society or from going to attain education, but because of the awareness that has been created in the families at the moment, even women went to night schools so that they would be literate. Our literacy rate involved even our parents. They appreciated that the disabled would also benefit from education, and that without having been literate, people could not have had the brains to send such disabled children to school and appreciate that each and every child has a right to education to a certain level. Well done Hon. Goto.
Among the highest population in terms of education, Zimbabwe is the first and this is a known fact the world-over. The world-over is keen on employing Zimbabweans because of their high qualifications. This is because of our strong system which we have in Zimbabwe. If you were to look at the posts that are held in the SADC or internationally, we have a lot of leaders that were born in Zimbabwe that are holding such positions of leadership in these various organisations in other different countries. We cannot even talk about the Parliamentary forums because Zimbabweans are doing us pride by having leading roles in these organisations. I would not want to belabour the point and I would want to thank the person that has raised this motion to be able to let us appreciate how important education is in Zimbabwe, especially in the
SADC region. I thank you.
*THE HON. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE: Thank you for
those wise words Hon. Senator Mawire.
HON. SEN. MOHADI: Thank you Madam President. First of all, I want to thank Hon. Senator Goto for bringing this motion into this august House, and being seconded by Hon. Senator Bhobho. Indeed, if we look at the education system, we find that Zimbabwe has tremendously improved especially on the side of the girl child. When she gave her statistics from 1980 up to 2014, you find that we have come up to 51% for the girl child which is a great improvement. Looking at the girl child, I would rather encourage again, because this number is 51% in the primary education but for the secondary education, we have not gone that far. So, we have to work hard to raise the girl child so that we get to the maximum. When I talk about the girl child, when we come to work and when we come to decision-making posts, we find that we are said not to have enough education. We have to improve.
This does not only go to the girl child. I am also encouraging my fellow Hon. Senators that it is never too late. Let us go to school. – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]- There are teachers in schools and lecturers in universities who are prepared to take us step by step so that we get the maximum education that we need. So, it is never too late, let us try. Some might say Ah! How do we go to school? We do not have the proper eye sight and we cannot see properly now. Let us just try it and see whether we will fail because we have been given this opportunity in Zimbabwe that education is open to everyone, be it young or old. The ball is in our court to go to school.
Looking at the number of the schools that she indicated, I will give an example of my own district - Beitbridge. Before 1980, I think there was only one secondary school, a mission school for that matter. If you take those statistics now, we are above 17 secondary schools, which is an achievement. –[HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]- When we talk about primary schools, we had very few schools. I think they were less than 20 but now, we are counting numbers above 70. That means we are growing in our own areas as well. So, I really say thumbs up for Hon.
Senator Goto who thought of giving us these statistics on the variances from 1980 up to where we are now. I would also want to applaud the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education for monitoring and evaluating the system. They are not only focusing on academics but they are changing the school curriculum so that those who cannot master theoretical subjects are exposed to practical subjects. You will realize that there are different talents among children; some are good in theoretical subjects whilst others are gifted in practical subjects. This is a very good decision in my opinion.
With these few words Madam President, once again I would like to thank Senator Goto for bringing this motion to this august House and it is open for us to debate because each and every one of us is affected in their constituencies. Everyone is aware of that and we are at liberty to discuss and share ideas about what is taking place in our areas. Whether there is an improvement or not, I think most of it is the improvement on the education system.
Madam President, I would also want to urge the Ministry of
Education, as well as ourselves in this august House to take note and consider having primary schools at farms. You will realize that some of us have farms and there are a lot of children at those farms who are not going to school. What are we saying about those children who are not going to school? We have to try and do something about these children.
The Ministry also has to look into it that better schools are built in the resettlement areas so that all the children are at the same level in terms of education and learning environment. These children also need good classrooms and qualified teachers. You will realize that there is only a farm-house and the teachers who are there are temporary and their education is retarded because of the level of qualification of the teachers in those schools. With these few words Mr. President, I would like to thank you.
*HON. SEN. MACHINGAIFA: Thank you Mr. President for this
opportunity. I would like to thank Sen. Goto for the motion that she has raised in this august House, which was seconded by Sen. Bhobho. We are grateful for their vision or findings. It is pleasing to note that in our country Zimbabwe, we have the President who is the Head of Government and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces, who likes education and thus encourages children to go to school. He is a loving father, we thank him. If it were not for him, the door could have been opened, but it was him who opened the door so that there will be education in this country. We are grateful that God is with this country and the people have an opportunity to go to school. In other countries, people are failing to educate their children because of civil strife.
We are most grateful that the fruits of our peace are self- evident. If you neither applaud nor support such a motion, I would wonder what type of a leader you are. This is a good motion and there is no need to cast any aspersions. There has been much development in the education sector, which has seen a lot of schools being built and education is now easily accessible for our children. It is pleasing to note that we now have the highest level of literacy in Africa. What I urge Zimbabweans to do, once they are educated, is that they should be able to develop their own country as a sign of appreciation, in return for the education that they would have received from the country and its leadership.
Mr. President, we have a lot of free time for people to go to school. However, there is a sad incident where it appears that it is now a breeding ground. This is because, once we educate our children, brilliant as they might be, they are no longer ploughing back their new found education or serving their nation. They are now going to utilise that education for the benefit of other countries. Instead, they should work for this country for at least two to three years and thereafter, they are free to go anywhere in the world. We should guard against skills flight because the current trend is that once our children are educated, they leave this country.
I recall a certain book in which a certain proud man who had made a lot of money but was not educated, was bragging about his ability to employ graduates. He was in the cigarette selling business. He was able to employ the graduates educated as they were because they neither could find employment nor had money. We appeal to God so that our country is blessed and hope that as our children become educated and intelligent, we seek God’s intervention so that companies open up and provide employment. Education is good, it is the light.
When there is development in this country, we should talk about it and praise it. We should be beating our own trumpet, which is in line with our Zimbabwean culture; we say one beats his own drum to praise himself. We thank Cde. Mugabe, God bless him so that more schools are built. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. CHIPANGA: Thank you Mr. President. I also want to support the motion raised by Sen. Goto that is in line with education in this country. First and foremost, let me start by strongly supporting the notion that it is not only the issue of schools in this country, but we have people who are attaining high quality education and recognisable qualifications. I would like to thank the President in the same light because he is the one who urged everyone to go to school in 1980. He also pronounced that every child has a right to education.
Several years down the line, after independence, they now want to emulate our example of free education. Although at the moment we are having economic problems, our education is still affordable. So, we have a quality and affordable education system that has enabled the numbers of people who are educated in Zimbabwe, especially our teachers, to be in the highest demand within the region. In the region, a lot of teachers are from this country and I think it is because they are educated and that is why they are in those positions.
Yes, it is true that we would want to put our emphasis on science and mathematics teachers but at the moment if you look at it, we are the highest in the world. Be that as it may, we should not rest on our laurels because education does not end. We may have those that are well educated but we still have the young generation that is coming, they also need to be well educated. I urge the heads of schools to raise the flag high in terms of education and in as far as the quality of education is concerned so that it remains high. There are certain private schools that have mushroomed and it is indeed a worrisome situation that we are observing because it is now more of a business but the point is, we should be grateful because we do not have fake degrees going round within the society. That is the safety net. No matter how many schools you may have; whether they are in Sakubva or in Mbare, if one has not written ZIMSEC examinations, they would not have attained ordinary levels. We urge that this be maintained. Those that have been to the United Kingdom are aware that if you enter the United Kingdom with a certificate of advanced level, it is an entry point into any university. It is because of the quality of our education which is still recognised the world over.
So, I urge that we remain in that vein and maintain our quality education system. Mr. President, I would also want to briefly touch on the issue of why we have attained such high literacy rates because we are the highest in Africa and this is because of the peace that is prevailing in this country. Where there is no peace, no one can go to school; look at the situation in countries where we are observing a flurry of refugees seeking refuge in other countries. Once that situation prevails, there will not be any schooling anymore because one would be busy trying to ensure that they remain alive. We want to thank the leader of this country for the peace that has been maintained and that we have been able to continue with our education.
In conclusion Mr. President, I am in agreement that the Nziramasanga Commission was once held a long time back and it was lagging behind. I am happy that the current Minister of Primary and
Secondary Education came before this august House and informed the
House that they are going to try and implement the findings of the Nziramasanga Commission. If we were to remain in that light, we will be able to achieve more. Lastly, I would want to thank Hon. Senator Goto, the mover of the Motion and the seconder, Hon. Sen. Bhobho. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. MANYERUKE: Thank you Hon. President. I
would like to thank Hon. Sen. Goto for the motion that she has raised in this House. It is my hope that the vision which has been aptly supported by Hon. Bhobho will observe that at the height of the liberation war, in the past, we were wayward and we used not to send our girl child to school. It was said that if they would go to school, it would be just to go and learn to write. During that time, we even had a few girls reading other girls’ letters and they would even mislead others that the young man is no longer coming and he is no longer interested. Then later, there would be misunderstandings but the beauty of our culture then was that our aunties would then look into the matter and see that that had arisen out of jealous because one was about to be married. As females’ we were unable to read then.
It was a problem in Muzarabani because they were the growers of cotton, the white gold. They would bring cheques and the wife because of illiteracy; she would be unable to tell the amount that they were entitled to. We are grateful that at independence in 1980, adult literacy classes were formed and we were encouraged to go to school to be able to just sign Jenia Manyeruke and what figures are there. It has helped us in encashing cheques there. In Muzarabani, we did not have a lot of schools. Secondary schools only came about in 1980 and there was then free education. A lot of our children went to school. We had teachers coming from Cuba and others went and trained in Cuba as teachers. In Muzarabani, we have 59 primary schools – 40 registered and 19 are unregistered. We have nine registered secondary schools and ten unregistered. We have St. Albert’s Mission which is a big school. It enrolls children from all over Zimbabwe which I witnessed at the prize giving ceremony recently. Although we were wayward, we are now in the fore-front. The Senator is also getting educated so that they are enlightened.
Last year in 2014, St. Albert’s had the highest student in Zimbabwe who had nine As and one B. At ‘A’ Level, there were two that had twenty points. It would appear that enlightenment or education is doing much better in this area where the war started from. I do not know whether in your constituencies you have experienced the same thing. We have very few temporary teachers and muddy and thatched huts which were once used as schools are now a thing of the past, save for a few schools like Kakono and Chiridza. Schools are being built even in the resettlement areas but there is a challenge in the form of funding for roofing in schools such as Clearmorning, Kairezi and Gumbochuma. We urge the Government to raise substantial amounts or to bring back the CDF so that schools can be built. Let us urge our children to go forward because some are going backwards because of ignorance. Education is important/vital for both the young and the old. It develops the country and it is good once the literacy rate is up. When we went to Kenya, we observed that it was important to go to school because the people who were lecturing to us were degreed people. They wanted to know how educated the Members of Parliament in Zimbabwe are – how many of us had degrees or diplomas. The majority of us who do not have degrees want to be capped by the President next year. So, we are going to school to attain education. Let us do our studies as elders. We plead with the Lord to bless us. I thank you Hon. Goto for raising this motion.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. HLALO: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 28th October, 2015.
MOTION
PROMOTION OF SPORTS DEVELOPMENT
Second Order read: Adjourned debate on the motion on the need to promote sports development in Zimbabwe.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I thank you Mr. President. I also wish to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi and Hon. Sen. Mumvuri for raising this motion on the issue of promoting sport. I also wish to thank the Hon. Senators who have experienced an upward mobility in this House. The issue of sport is vital. I will term it the new frontier in employment creation. It is vital, I agree with the issue of enacting enabling legislation to promote sport. In fact, all the four items listed there are very appropriate.
These days, sport has produced the new elite. It is where the money is. Some footballers in the world fly jets. They have done so well and are successful. So Zimbabwe should go in this direction in creating employment for the youngsters. Like in education, as has been said here that we have produced outstanding graduates who can be employed anywhere in the world, let us also create footballers. Let Zimbabwe be the hunting ground for Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Laliga and those other teams. Let us really promote it to the point that we are actually exporting and that it becomes an export market for Zimbabwe.
To achieve this goal, I entirely agree with the proposal that the Government should take the lead in creating an enabling environment, sponsoring and allowing investors to come in. We should really seriously think of enticing delegations to visit celebrities like Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, to name just a few. These are really well known and there is a lot of money there. They get money both in terms of playing the games and also advertising rights. They have millions. All we need to do is maybe to approach the relevant Government Ministries to make arrangements that we go and encourage these people to visit Zimbabwe and sponsor or give money. So I really sport this idea.
The other Hon. Senator said, okay, it is nice for you to stand and support the motion, but can you also tell us a little bit of what you have done yourself. In my case, in my constituency, Kadoma, Sanyati,
Chakari in the west and also Mhondoro-Ngezi and Muzvezve in the east, I have linked football teams with the zonal shows that are carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.
At each green show, I ensure that they create also a theme, ‘Production with Sport’.
We end up with a zonal tournament in both Sanyati and
Mhondoro-Ngezi. I also give sponsorships and the last time I sponsored $100 to the winning team and $50 to the runners up. I also make sure that I buy them the jerseys in both the east and west, which are Mhondoro-Ngezi and Sanyati constituencies. In the urban areas, I am also a member of a football team. I actively participate. So, I agree with this and I am also on the ground.
Whenever you talk of football at these shows, the moment you announce soccer, both men and women, it is brilliant and the stadium fills up. It is so encouraging and that is why I am saying I agree with the mover of the motion. I have approached ZIFA and they have said they will support us. We may all laugh and say but ZIFA, a-ah, well that is the institution that is there. They are the custodians of the game and I still invite them. They said to me, can we get space. We want physical space, geography and so, I went to Mhondoro-Ngezi and we were given by the council about 10 ha. In Sanyati we were given 20 ha. All we need is to develop it. So the idea of encouraging and getting space is very much in line, and I am already involved in it.
So I wish to thank Hon. Sen. Chimbudzi for bringing this motion. What we need to do is to work hard to make sure that legislation is enacted and also have promoters, like I have mentioned, the Michael Jordans and Serena Williams. Some of her fans call her vaChihera because she is so tough on the courts. I am appealing to fellow legislators that we work together to bring these celebrities and may be get rid of the stigma. I know there is a political side of it, which may be a bit difficult but I think it is a brilliant idea. I thank you.
HON. SEN. CHIMBUDZI: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MUMVURI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 28th October, 2015.
MOTION
PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH: DEBATE ON ADDRESS
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion in reply to the Presidential Speech.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. MUSAKA: I rise to add my voice to fellow Hon.
Senators who have thanked the President for His speech. I think the President has done a wonderful job. The issues that were raised are very pertinent to development and I agree with them.
I further, also wish to thank the President for his recent speech at the UN on human rights. The President, in line with development and rights, took the issue of human rights to new heights. He really emphasized the need to have rights defined by all and not rights defined by a few individuals who support the gay movement and those who do not support gays are punished and denied aid. This is not the way to go in defining human rights. Besides, the Americans cannot be the best people to tell us about rights. Where on earth do you have an individual who goes into a school and guns down 10 year olds who are unarmed?
This is in uncle Sam’s land, this is where this can only happen and the ‘guru’ Barack Obama, is there mourning with his hands folded; oh my hands are tied, why, because it is the people’s rights to carry guns. That is in defense of a criminal who guns down children and you call those human rights.
When the President of Zimbabwe does not agree with gay activists – ah, he must be punished. What kind of human rights are these? I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President for
affording me the opportunity to add my voice on the Presidential Speech. The President talked about corruption but I observe that this issue is only being skated on the surface. If people are corrupt, no one is brought to book. One is actually transferred from the Ministry where the act of corruption is alleged to have occurred to a new one. There has been corruption in the lands, ZUPCO, CSC, GMB and NOCZIM. There was also corruption on the disbursement of compensation for war veterans. There are others who were awarded 90% disability, meaning that they are unable to do anything on their own but other beneficiaries of that high percentage are able to walk on their own. This shows that there was corruption in the War Compensation Fund.
There was also corruption that involved the late Morris Nyagumbo, I am sorry to say he could not face the music as a man and he committed suicide. If only he had known that corruption issues in Zimbabwe would not lead anyone to incarceration he would not have taken away his life.
I am quite hurt by such …
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: On a point of order Mr. President, I am not aware or are you aware whether the late Cde. Morris Nyagumbo was convicted of any case of corruption. I am not aware of that. He was just a person who, because he was named, was ashamed but not that he was corrupt.
*HON. SEN. CHIFAMBA: Thank you Mr. President, what I am
saying is that we are treating corruption with kid-gloves. We have never heard of a person who has been arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for a long time. They are arrested for a few days and a short while later they are released.
There was the Sandura Commission, we do not know what was achieved by this Commission. There were Anti-Corruption
Commissions but what they came up with, we are still to learn because the findings are still suppressed. People are paying lip-service to corruption in Zimbabwe. The issues of the late Nyagumbo were in the 1990s and once these things come to the fore, it means that the scandals have been on-going and there has not been a nipping in the bud of this cancerous corruption. Government companies are closing shop because of theft and yet people are not punished. It appears that corruption is the in thing and is not being given the attention it deserves. People are busy blaming sanctions but we are failing to understand that we are imposing sanctions on ourselves by being corrupt.
If we were to ask about the issue of funds that were raised from the diamonds, no one can account for those funds. A lot of leakages took place and a lot of money was taken out of the country to other countries. We are shooting ourselves in the foot as Zimbabweans. If we talk about sanctions, what about this corrupt and cancerous activity that started since the early 1980s. Paweni was involved in the GMB scandal and he died. However, to this day, corruption has been unabated. There have not been meaningful punitive sentences given to people that are corrupt. If you steal, you become a good person and you are transferred from one division to another. So, when our President talks about corruption, he should walk the talk. There are a lot of people that are corrupt.
We hear that there is an Anti-Corruption Commission in
Zimbabwe, which has not done anything but, is just quiet. This Commission is not doing its work because the perpetrators of these corrupt activities are either their seniors or they could be working in cahoots, so they are not able to arrest them. We should condemn corruption and take sterner measures to ensure that we eradicate it. If need be, they should be given punitive sentences such as life imprisonment. We are truly shooting ourselves in the foot as
Zimbabweans because of corruption. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. JADAGU: Thank you Mr. President for affording me the opportunity to speak on the President’s speech, His Excellency Cde. R. G. Mugabe – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]- this House should agree with me that His Excellency, in his speech in Parliament a few days ago in the Eighth Parliament, we heard him well. I was not feeling well. I left this august House and stayed in the reception. We heard him well on the radio TV as well as on newspapers. I heard him talking about agriculture. He clearly explained that the Whites because of the illiteracy of our forefathers who placed an X, for a signature the White man took our land.
I did construct some contours ridges, these were taken away by Cde. Mugabe because of our boys and girls that fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe so that Cde Mugabe could rule this country. He also encouraged us to go and to repossess our land. We went into these farms and we are farming. We should say the truth and shame the devil. If we are Christians we should say hallelujah! He touched on the issue of education and it was explained by the Senator who moved the motion and seconded in the same manner by these other Senators.
We heard the achievements of our education and what the Government of His Excellency, Cde. Mugabe is doing. I will not repeat in terms of the number of schools that are now there. He touched on the health issues. May be we are dull in that we fail to aciculate issues to the people because our people are corrupt. We as leaders we do not understand and people are asking us questions that we are unable explain because we believe that we are dull. We should not daydream or speak out of turn. Let us be realistic and touch on things that the people see.
Let me say in farming as the Blacks, we are no longer have incisions made on our skin, we now go to prophets or we now have injections. We should farm in strong manner. We now have health and we cannot count the number of clinics. In Chitungwiza, we have Dr. O. Moyo, he went around Zimbabwe so that other hospitals can copy from him on how sound administration should be like. A lot of doctors are now good at that. We should accept knowledge and we should not be criticizing for the sake of criticizing.
Once we praise, we will be blessed we should criticize where criticism is due. Thieves are everywhere-no matter who leads this country, we may even have more thieves but the single thief should be arrested, the many thieves should also be arrested. I can even go further- our prisons are full. We went to see relatives. We were seeing relatives that steal from all parties. There was a jailbreak. It is not President
Mugabe who produced thieves. Thieves are born in this country, the important issue is the youth. People do not want to blame their own children.
The President said whoever has committed an offence should be arrested. Any man any woman who offends should be arrested. The same applies to his wife. She said whoever is giving people problems should be arrested. That is a proper image of how a country should be run from the First Family. When he was speaking I was very ill then I observed this from the bottom of my heart as a child of ZANU PF and as a child of Zimbabwe, as a Christian. We will never find a leader like President Mugabe – [HON. SENATORS: Hear, hear.]- we may preach or do whatever we want but we may never find a leader who is as lenient as the President. He is very kind and loves his country.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the speech that he gave us you hear the people saying that the President is good. If it was not the likes of Jadagu the thief but we hear that so and so is good but there are also criminals. You cannot execute criminals because you may kill everyone at all levels criminals abound.
The President is a national leader. If we were to look at his age, others would be losing their mind; you would think that he is the age of Hon. Musaka. He still speaks coherently and this has redeemed our Zimbabwean nation for us to be where we are. We used to walk without dressing properly. We now wear head-cloth, head covers in the form of berets but the only thing he denied was gays and lesbians. He is a fatherly figure and you must respect him. The Lord saves us if we are truthful and we should pray for the President. His Ministers who go astray should be removed, that is the way we know him. He does not reshuffle you but will take you off. He does not keep thieves, wizards and witches. I am saying that the President is good. I support his speech and I wish if he could live for another 20 years so that we can have great children. I thank you Mr. President.
HON. SEN. TAWENGWA: I move that the debate do now
adjourn.
HON. SEN. MASUKU: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Wednesday, 28th October, 2015.
On the motion of HON. SEN. TAWENGWA, seconded by HON. SEN. MASUKU, the Senate adjourned at Ten Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.