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Minister Lazarus Dokora

Oliver Kazunga Senior Reporter—
PRIMARY and Secondary Education Minister Lazarus Dokora has dismissed reports that the government will soon force teachers to wear uniforms. In the past few weeks, there have been claims on social media that the government, through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, will soon make it mandatory for school teachers to wear uniforms.

Responding to questions from the floor after delivering his speech at the 2016 inaugural Bulawayo Zim-Asset stakeholder conference on Friday, Dokora said: “When I introduce a new policy, I don’t go on WhatsApp. All those rumours, they’ve even made my beard longer than it was . . . don’t be misled by those guys (on social media).”

In his speech, the minister reiterated that the government was looking forward to the formation of a teachers’ council.

“We’re also working to create the teaching council for the first time in our nation. Once we establish the teaching profession council, it means the sector has professionalised; not every Tom and Dick can walk in there and say, ‘I’m teaching or I’ve got a Form Four certificate, please give me a class’.

“You know nothing about teaching, you know nothing about how kids learn,” he said. Dokora said his ministry was working to improve the quality of the country’s education system by reviewing the educational curriculum. He said the reviewing of the education system would ensure that it does not become highly theoretical.

“Some of you, you’ll remember that in 2014 we did an analysis of the structure and we came to the conclusion that the Early Childhood Development (ECD) modules were literally dysfunctional and took the position to mainstream ECD A and B,” he said. Dokora said as a result, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education was requested to introduce ECD training in teachers’ colleges.