The diocese intends to privatise and monetise St Faith’s,
St David’s Bonda, St Augustine’s, St Mathias Tsonzo and St Anne’s Goto high
schools next year, and last week embarked on consultative meetings which turned
out to be chaotic as local communities, church members, teachers and
non-teaching staff vehemently opposed the move.
The meetings were tense, full of heated debates and
finger-pointing, with communities arguing that the move has negative
implications on the poor who will not be able to enrol their children at the
schools.
In a bid to ensure exhaustive and informative consultations,
Manicaland Provincial Education Director (PED), Mr Edward Shumba annulled the
outcomes of the recently held meetings and ordered fresh ones chaired by
District Schools Inspectors (DSIs).
The schools’ alumni have also joined the fray and vowed to resist
the privatisation of the five schools against the wishes of the majority
stakeholders.
Mr Shumba said the outcome from the reconvened meetings
will be communicated to his superiors at the Primary and Secondary Education
Ministry headquarters in Harare.
“We have written to them asking them to reconvene the
meetings, with parents of children at the schools, local community leadership,
community members, the church assembly, teachers and non-teaching staff. After
a decision has been made by these stakeholders we will forward it to our head
office.
“We gathered that they had chaotic meetings with parents
last week. We are now saying these meetings should be chaired by the Office of
the DSI. You cannot be the son-in-law and father-in-law at the same time;
somebody has to be a go-between,” said Mr Shumba.
The diocese spokesperson and registrar, Mr Ashel Mutungura,
said they were agreeable to the ministry’s request to a neutral person chairing
the consultative meetings.
Mr Mutungura admitted that the Responsible Authority was an
interested party.
“Consultative meetings are by nature argumentative as
people present facts, figures, arguments, though some take it personally.
“The PED’s point of view was that the Responsible Authority
is an interested party and wanted someone neutral to ensure transparency of the
whole process. We do not see any problem with that. In fact, it enhances
transparency of the whole process as we don’t have anything to hide. Let us
have consultative meetings which are informative.
“It is not like we are doing something dubious. These
consultations will continue, whether one likes it or not for us to come to a
conclusion. What the ministry advised us to do is fair and proper,” said Mr
Mutungura.
The alumni at St Faith’s High has indicated its willingness
to assist in improving infrastructure and remuneration to match desired
standards without necessarily privatising the school.
A representative of the ex-students, Mr Francis
Chapuredima, said there was no guarantee that monetising education would
translate into success.
“The idea to convert St Faith’s High School into a Trust
school has risen because of the need to increase revenue to fund infrastructure
and also increase remuneration for teachers and staff. The argument is that
existing infrastructure does not reflect the brand that St Faith’s High has
come to be.
“However, as an alumnus, I am worried that this decision
may damage the school’s mandate, which is to educate. The majority of us who
went to St Faith’s High appreciated the so-called ‘lower standards’ because we
knew this also made the school affordable.
‘‘The school did not achieve pole position in Zimbabwe
because of revenue streams. It got to where it is because of committed
educators, learners, and leadership. More revenue is no guarantee that those
who handle the funds will set the priorities right.
‘‘Maybe it is time for us to do more to help cover some of
the financial gaps, and help towards infrastructure and staff remuneration. As
for this ‘privatisation’ issue, if it is not broken, please, do not fix it,”
said Mr Chapuredima.
National Association of School Development Committees
(NASDC) and Zimbabwe School Development Committees/Association (ZSDC/A) have
criticised the wholesale privatisation of the schools.
They called for a phased implementation of the whole
exercise.
NASDC official, a Mr Mupakati said the move was motivated
by money.
“It is all about upping their business. Schools have become
big business in Zimbabwe. This drive will negatively affect the generality of
Zimbabweans, especially those in host provinces. Why not phasing the process?”
he said.
ZSDC general secretary, Mr Evaristo Jongwe, said if the
decision is rushed, the catastrophic consequences will be felt across the
education sector.
“This is tantamount to disaster. It will have catastrophic
effects, and I don’t see how Government will allow this,” he said.
Zimbabwe Rural Teachers’ Union president, Mr Martin
Chaburumunda said the move was ill-advised and borders on cheating communities
that assisted in the construction of the schools.
“It is wrong timing by the church. They should agree with
all stakeholders and as it stands, their attempts have no support. They should
not force people. Anglican should open new private schools and leave mission
schools as they are.
“These schools were built with massive community
involvement. They are community assets being managed by the church. A church
must not cheat. We have consulted teachers and they are opposed to the
privatisation move. The move has potential to destabilise these schools as it
is traumatising teachers who are against it,” said Mr Chaburumunda. Manica Post
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