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How genuine are O Level results?
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
April 08, 2010

Comment

How genuine are O Level Results?

The old adage, 'you reap what you sow', has been used since time immemorial to admonish pupils who are not so eager about their schoolwork and their examinations. This year the blame for failure should not be placed on the pupils who sat for the Advanced and Ordinary Level Examinations but on all the stakeholders in the education sector. Instead of coming up with a long-lasting and amicable solution to the education crisis in our country, they quibbled and squabbled the year away. The government, the Ministry of Education, teacher and parents spent more time vilifying each other instead of coming up with suggestions to ensure quality education in the country. During strikes teachers were forced to report to duty before their pleas were heard and before they got what they were clamouring for but there is no guarantee that they would go back and teach. Any other ordinary employee will agree that one cannot work diligently knowing that their salaries do not equate to the value for their services.
Zimbabwe is not only losing its qualified personnel to the brain drain but also to its under performing education system. The government should look into the issues affecting the education sector before the country is robbed of its professionals. If these teachers quit they will be replaced by amateurs who would have been simply lured by the incentives. These incentives are some form of legalised bribery given to people so that they do a job that they are paid for.

The pass rates for 2009 are yet to be published but already there are queries on whether ZIMSEC became too lenient on the marking scheme or the passes are genuine. Two academic years have been wasted due to the numerous spontaneous strikes, stay aways and sit ins. Most residents would expect that more children would have failed to proceed further with their education because very little time was spent learning as teacher wanted incentives, the parents wanted cheaper education, the government was paying peanuts and all other stakeholders just stood by and watched.

In the past years the government would send the years best performing students to universities outside the country and people would remain confident that the students would come back in better positions to serve the nation. These past years have been very different. The country that once have the best education system in Southern Africa cannot pride itself of that anymore. Citizens cannot stand up and boast about the students that have been sent to universities outside Zimbabwe as most people are aware that the education system is incapable of producing the cream it used to.

Misplaced Loyalties and Wrong priorities

Bulawayo residents have expressed displeasure over the Bulawayo City Council's procurement of a brand new car for the ceremonial mayor of the city. It seem to be the trend nowadays for politicians, who have been put in positions of power by the populace, to be riding on the latest range of vehicles such that it is not surprising to note that the Mayor of Bulwayo, Thaba Moyo, has joined the bandwagon.

It is disappointing thought, that as the city is facing a myriad of problems (potholes, falling signposts, overgrown grass, non-collection of refuse) the local authority has decided to add a new Chrysler 2.0L CRO Dodge Journey worth US$ 65,000 to the fleet already available to the Mayor. At the Mayor's disposal is also a ceremonial vintage Black Rolls Royce, a Toyota Venture, a Nissan Pathfinder, a Prado, a Peugeot 504 sedan and a Mazda BT50. The money to buy these vehicles could have been used to buy refuse compactors to reduce the refuse mounting in the townships and suburbs.

The distribution of vehicles should tally with the duties and responsibilities of those that receive them. This would probe one to ask what errand the Mayor has to run that requires such a vehicle or could a cheaper car serve the same purpose. Judging from the country's current situation, the allocation of such resources should not be determined by the value attached to the assets but by the responsibilities of the individual.

The City Council is also on a mission to repaint road markings on the city's pot-holed roads. Noble as it might be, once again Council is failing to prioritise. Drivers rarely drive on the correct lane because they will be avoiding potholes. So if cars are weaving across lanes to avoid potholes, which one must be the priority, filling potholes or painting road markings?

Consultative Meetings

At the meetings that were held at Njube, Brham Green, Mzilikazi and Nketa residents pleaded with councillors and the police to work in collaborations with residents for the core benefits of the wards. The residents stated that gone are the days when residents would be intimidated by those in authority. They emphasized that there should be a unity of purpose among these. ZESA officials advised residents to use power saving gadgets so as to save the little power that the country is running on. Zimbabwe is one of the countries in Southern Africa that are experiencing a serious shortage of power, thus can save the power that it has as chances of importing it are very slim. Telone on the other hand encouraged the residents to visit its offices and agree on payment arrangements that will suit the residents. Service providers persuaded residents to avoid corrupt activities as these can cripple service delivery and physical development of the city. These in turn have serious repercussions on the residents themselves.

The meetings that were held over the past weekend provided the platform for residents to dialogue with ZESA, Telone, BCC, PTUZ, ZRP and Radio Dialogue.

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