Zimpapers Logo

Patrick Chitumba Midlands Bureau Chief
THE government’s teacher capacity development programme is in full swing and 2,500 teachers are already studying at five local universities in critical areas such as Science and Mathematics, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa said yesterday.

He said the teachers were taking up courses in key areas facing shortage of skilled personnel that were identified by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.

Officially opening the Sarah Bata Senior School at the Zimbabwe Bata Shoe Company Limited premises in Gweru, VP Mnangagwa who is also the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs said the government and its education partners were supporting the teachers with funding.

“The critical areas identified include Science and Mathematics, Information and Communication Technology, indigenous languages that are stated in our Constitution and Technical/Vocational subjects,” he said.

The school, which has already enrolled the first group of Form One pupils was named after the wife of Thomas Bata, the president of Bata Shoe Company International.

He said the teachers would help in the successful implementation of changes in the country’s education system.

VP Mnangagwa said the provision of quality education for all learners, regardless of their circumstances from infant education to secondary school education was a key mandate of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.

He said Zimbabweans required an education that not only addresses the current needs of the nation but also competently serves future needs as a critical component of the solution to the country’s socio-economic challenges.

“It’s in this vein that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education engaged the entire nation in a comprehensive consultation process for the new curriculum in which all the 8,287 schools in the county were designated as consultation centres,” said VP Mnangagwa.

“The curriculum review process that was carried out will lead to a new curriculum which should be fully responsive to the genuine needs of the learners and the nation. To that end, the new curriculum should equip them with skills that will enable them not only to become easily employable but for them to be able to create employment for themselves and others.”

He said the infant education department had been established to strengthen the foundation of education in the country.

He said the new curriculum should be used as a tool to strengthen infant education which has great potential to fulfil the desires of the nation.

“Given that our schools have a total of 4,066,160 pupils, a tremendous opportunity exists to utilise the curriculum to develop in our learners the skills, knowledge, attitudes and values that reflect our culture and our national aspirations,” said the VP.

He said the recently launched Non-Formal Education Policy was aimed at bringing education to the doorstep of all who desire it adding that all the schools should become non-formal education centres.

VP Mnangagwa said the current number of schools is pegged at 2,056 schools, comprising 1,252 primary schools and 804 secondary schools.

He said the government had approved the construction of school infrastructure through joint venture partnerships.

“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is in the process of building synergies for the implementation of this programme in order to ensure a conducive learning environment for all learners,” said VP Mnangagwa.

He said the Bata family should be commended for taking a noble initiative of providing a quality learning environment for the benefit of the nation.

“It is a great honour for me to participate at this momentous occasion when Bata Shoe Company is opening a new chapter in the life of its operations and responsibilities. The government has a deficit of schools nation-wide and any effort to increase the number of schools in the country is most appreciated,” said VP Mnangagwa.

In an interview, Thomas Bata said people with education had better opportunities to contribute to the economy of the country and therefore the need by the company to invest in the secondary school.

He said education was vital as it helped improve people’s standards of living.

“We have a primary school already here and we thought it was an appropriate thing to start a secondary school,” he said.