Zimbabwe education short of cash

HARARE – Zimbabwe’s mid-year schools examination had been postponed for a month due to lack of funding by international donors, the education ministry announced on Wednesday.

And the results from last year’s exams, which should have been issued in February, would finally be released today, Education Minister David Coltart told reporters.
The exams provide the crucial qualifications for students who want to continue their education at university level.
But Coltart said the government was struggling to raise the $350 000 needed to finance the administration of the exams.
‘I have put a variety of funding applications to donors, but we are still yet to get responses,’ he said.
The government was so short of money it had yet to pay markers who handled the 2008 exams. The results from those exams, which should have been released in February, were now due out today, he added.
School teachers are paid a flat salary of $100 (around N$900) , just like any other civil servant.
‘We are trying to stabilise the entire education system, we regret that students have been prejudiced by the various problems we are facing,’ he said.
The new government formed in February and led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has struggled to find funding.
Major donors have been reluctant to give new aid until the government makes more tangible reforms to break from President Robert Mugabe’s past policies, which are blamed for wrecking the economy and trampling on human rights.
– Nampa-AFP