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The Teacher, The Parent and Education
Albert Gumbo
May 04, 2004

Read The Herald article

My seven year old is excited this morning. About half an hour ago I drove right through the school parking lot after we were turned away because the school, along with 45 other private schools, was closed for raising fees without government permission. It meant another day "in holiday paradise" for my seven year old. It meant anger for me.

You see, I was a teacher once. I taught French for eight years, two of them in a government school and the remainder in a private school. We loved our jobs, were dedicated in the classroom and on the sports field and . . . we were very poor. But it was bearable, we could buy clothes at Sales House and pretend it was Edgars. We could even go on school tours out of the country.

I left teaching a year after the birth of this excited seven year old, in August '98 to be more precise. I left because I could not afford to buy a house on a private school head of department's salary. I wanted my one year old to be able to kick a ball around in the garden so that one day he could turn out for Liverpool and perhaps captain Zimbabwe at the world cup!

So then I became a parent who understood the meaning and importance of education both from a teacher's point of view and a parental one. The Zimbabwean economy has not been bearable since the late nineties. We have lost doctors, nurses, teachers and other professionals in their thousands. First it was a trickle to the private sector and then to Botswana. Now it is Cyclone Eline into far lands. I remember Dicky Peters, headmaster at CBC, where I taught and spent some of the most satisfying periods of my career. I remember Dicky always being at pains not to simply raise school fees, but always at pains to remain true to the ethos of the school and always raising fees reluctantly. And I have no reason to believe that this position has changed. I also remember an extremely dedicated parent body giving of their time to fund-raise for capital expenditure. School fees were for teachers' salaries. Schools, including private schools are not profit seeking but teachers have to be paid a living wage. As a parent who is an ex-teacher and who more importantly wants a quality education for his child, I understand and believe that. I also mutter with friends by the water cooler about the high cost of school fees but I do the same regarding taxes! I understand why we pay tax, even if the benefits are not staring me in the face. I have to put up with pot-holes, power and water cuts on a regular basis! On the other hand everyday I see the benefits of paying school fees when my boy shows me his homework. I also see the future in these activities. Is that not that which a parent lives for? The future well- being of their offspring? I also happen to sit on the PA because I understand as a parent that I must support the school's fund-raising efforts for capital expenditure while the fees go to attracting and retaining good quality teachers.

So excuse me if I get a little bit miffed when the people who fail to manage my taxes in a sustainable and professional manner must now attempt to take away the thing that I can help to professionally influence for the benefit of my children! Come! Come! This is not on. What next, will we have Cuban teachers?

"You do not drown by falling into the water, you drown by staying there." Open the schools and let our children prepare a future for a great Zimbabwe that will help our nation regain an honourable place in the family of nations.

"Light a candle, instead of cursing the darkness."

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