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Minister Dokora

Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
THE government is in the process of revising regulations for supervising the country’s school heads in a bid to clip some of their wings, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Cde Lazarus Dokora has said.Cde Dokora said the statutory instrument in place today was enacted in 1983 and gives school heads excess power, a development that he said negatively affecting the education sector.

“We are revising the instrument that supervises school heads. We are using a very old one and it is not doing justice to the education system because it’s not comprehensive,” said Cde Dokora while addressing participants during a Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial education workshop held at Davies Hall on Sunday.

“The new instrument is going to cut out all kinds of shenanigans that are happening in schools and improve the assessment of both the pupils and teachers thereby improving the entire education sector.”

Minister Dokora said the new instrument will also help curb the introduction of unnecessary fees such as acceptance fees for new pupils and incentives among other charges.

“We decided to scrap the incentives because it was being abused. Initially schools were told to take 10 percent of the levy and give teachers. Instead, some took 60 percent, some 90 percent while some even took all the money and shared it among themselves.

“This created unecessary expansion on enrolment in schools becase it increased the opportunity for more money for the incentives.  The evils of the incentives created more challenges for us,” said Cde Dokora.

The minister reiterated that extra lessons were creating problems for the ministry.

He said schools should make use of the 12 day revision period for examination classes provided for by government.

He emphasised the need for the ministry to remain focused on its professional mandate to provide quality education in the country.

He added: “The ministry has a number of challenges that need to be addressed and these include infrastructural development.  We’re working on a new education curriculum that will be implemented as soon as it is approved by Cabinet.”

Last month school heads hit out at Cde Dokora, accusing him of causing confusion in schools through a raft of policy changes he made since taking over the portfolio last year.

The heads expressed displeasure over the minister’s reforms during the National Association of Secondary School Heads (Nash) annual conference in Victoria Falls saying his pronouncements were negatively affecting schools as he put new measures without first consulting them.