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Education declining by degrees
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2004-32
Monday August 9th - Sunday August 15th 2004

The authorities' penchant for exerting a stranglehold on all spheres of Zimbabwean life under the guise of defending the country's sovereignty was underscored by continued government interference in the administration of private schools and President Mugabe's pronouncement that his government was considering revamping the country's education system to produce "patriotic" students.

But the most absurd development was the Zimbabwe Independent's revelation that Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere had outlawed "extra lessons during school holidays without the ministry's approval". Quoting a circular to parents by a Harare primary school headmaster, the paper reported that anyone defying the ministry's directive would be arrested.

Said the document: "Authority can be sought in writing by parents through the school head. Any teacher or child doing extra lessons will be reported to the police."

But while the private media questioned some of these bizarre education policies, the government media were more notable for their passivity. For example, ZTV (11/8, 8pm), Power FM & Radio Zimbabwe (12/8, 6am) and The Herald (12/8) simply quoted Chigwedere defending his ministry's objections to the "compulsory donations" demanded by some schools to supplement government-fixed school fees and failed to challenge government interference in the day-to-day running of private schools.

Power FM quoted Chigwedere saying: "The economic environment has been improving for the past six months . . . there is no reason why the schools should be raising school fees." But the station failed to relate this misleading reasoning to economic realities.

None of the government-controlled media provided a detailed background to the donation problem, which emanated from Chigwedere's decision to slash fees at these schools to unviable levels.

But The Financial Gazette comment was categorical in blaming Chigwedere for the education sector's demise.

The paper accused him of destroying private schools on the basis of his "ruinous 'wisdom'" that they were a "bastion of capitalistic privilege and racial discrimination" despite evidence that the majority of the pupils at the schools were black.

It argued that Chigwedere's stance had resulted in the schools facing the "spectre of bankruptcy".

The Zimbabwe Independent agreed in its Editor's Memo. It noted that Chigwedere had embarked on a systematic policy to ensure that well-run and well-equipped schools were reduced to the same condition as other dilapidated non-performing government institutions.

In addition, the paper quoted Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) president Luxon Zembe lashing out at Chigwedere, saying he had no right to meddle in private schools' fees as long as the parents were prepared to pay for the quality facilities offered by these schools, which the government ones did not have.

However, The Sunday Mirror, quoted an adamant Chigwedere arguing that contrary to the parents' "ignorant" perception that his ministry was "interfering" in the management of private schools, it was merely "enforcing" the Education Act.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's education system was thrown into further disarray following President Mugabe's Heroes' Day announcement that his government was considering overhauling the education system to ensure it produced "patriotic students who cherish the gains of independence", ZBC (9/8, 6 & 8pm), The Herald, Chronicle and The Daily Mirror (10/8).

Mugabe claimed that "in the past they (education institutions) produced graduates who became enemies of the struggle. If our institutions have a capacity to produce enemies of the struggle, then they are ill-equipped or do not deserve to be there."

While the government media buried this revelation in the main body of Mugabe's address, The Daily Mirror gave it greater prominence, drawing parallels between this plan and government's earlier creation of a similar programme under the National Youth Training Scheme, which critics charged was designed to indoctrinate youths with ZANU PF propaganda.

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