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Notes from the education conference
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
April 23, 2012

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) successfully held its education conference on Saturday 21 April 2012 where stakeholders present articulated their ideas on the best ways to end the educational problems being faced in Matabeleland. The conference, which ran under the theme "Revitalising the Education Sector for Sustainable Development in Matabeleland." was aimed at coming up with strategies to improve education in the region, which has faced numerous problems since independence, something which activists in the region attribute to marginalisation.

At the conference, academics and educationists presented papers on the state of the education sector in Matabeleland, the effects of incentives on education, social protection in education and opportunities for stakeholder participation in education. Also present at conference were residents' representatives, teachers' associations, headmasters and school development associations, the provincial education department and civic society leaders.

The following were the central issues raised:

• It emerged during the conference that most of the problems encountered in education in Matabeleland emanated from the Gukurahundi era when schools in the region were burnt down, and teachers and headmasters murdered or maimed. During the same period, Matabeleland was sidelined when schools were being built in other regions in the country. This is why education facilities in Matabeleland are not as developed as those in other regions.
• Delegates at the conference also bemoaned poor policies with regards to education as contributing to the low standards of education in the region. For example, delegates questioned what policies allowed teachers who do not speak Ndebele, the main language in Matabeleland, to teach children at primary level. They said this was negatively affecting the teaching process as children can only effectively learn if they are taught in their mother language.
• Delegates dismissed the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) as unable to cater for the needs of vulnerable children due to a combination of corruption and lack of funds. Residents in particular said that people from stable families were getting assistance at the expense of poor and vulnerable children due to their influence. It was proposed that the beneficiaries of BEAM should be made public to ensure transparency and also that the committees that select beneficiaries should be set up in a transparent manner.
• Concerns were raised that teachers' incentives are a case of abdication of duty on the part of the government, which employs teachers. They said it was unfair for parents to be expected to subsidise teachers' salaries especially because they also do not have money owing to the country's rough economic environment. Delegates argued that the government should improve teacher's salaries and abolish incentives adding that they believe that the funds are available.

As a way forward, academics present, scholars and other delegates proposed public and private partnerships (PPPs) and partnerships between the government and faith based organisations and the donor community as means to raise funds to improve education, especially in the development of infrastructure, teacher training and curriculum design. It was also argued that policies should be put in place to ensure that children, especially at primary level are taught by people who understand their mother language, as this is important in the preservation of cultures. In the same vein, delegates said policies were needed to ensure that local people benefit from colleges in their regions through quota systems.

The presentations that were made at the conference will be published in a book that Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) will use as a basis for lobbying for improvement of education in Matabeleland.

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