The Zimbabwe Guardian (London)
Dyke Sithole
30 April 2008
PARENTS with school going children in Zimbabwe during the holidays spend fortunes on extra lessons for their children as the country's education standards continue to deteriorate.
Most parents in the country have resorted to hiring private tutors to supplement their children's lessons which have been interrupted by incessant teachers' strikes, shortages of teaching staff, as well as textbooks in schools.
The situation was particularly worse last term when students attended lessons for only a month due to a crippling strike called by ZIMTA, demanding better working condition and higher salaries.
Parents who spoke to the Zimbabwe Guardian this week said they had lost faith in the quality of education which their children were getting from formal schools.
"I paid $250 million per day for extra lessons for my form two son. Last term the boys did not learn anything as the teachers were on strike and some left for greener pastures in South Africa.
"What is more disturbing and painful to us parents is that the schools this term are still expecting us to pay hefty school fees when our children are not learning anything in these schools," said Tendai Moyo, whom the Zimbabwe Guardian caught up with buying school uniforms for his son in Bulawayo this week.
Another parent, George Makaka, also expressed Moyo's sentiments and called on the government to urgently address the current crisis in the education sector.
"I have got two children attending secondary school. I am paying close to a billion dollars per month for extra lessons alone and on top of that I need to pay for their school fees. This is a heavy burden for us parents, especially when we consider that times are hard," said Makaka.
Some teachers are reported to have left the profession this term to concentrate on private tuition.
"I get more money by conducting private lessons than being a full time teacher employed by the government. When I was employed my salary was ZW$900 million but now I generate that amount in a day's time. The money is also not taxed," said Never Moyo who left employment in December last year.
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