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was set aside for pupils’ learning materials.
Cde Dokora was responding to questions on Government’s policy regarding the provision of infrastructure at schools in resettlement areas.
“There are challenges to do with funding. As a ministry we are superintending 8 300 schools and over 3 million pupils and we are aware that some are operating under unfavourable conditions.
“We are spending US$1,50 to educate each child per year. The will is there (to provide infrastructure) but the funding is just short,” he said.
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Although the ministry received one of the highest votes from the budget, the bulk of the money was chewed by salaries and allowances for teachers and officials.
The ministry had requested US$232 million for operations, but just received US$59 million thereby compromising service delivery.
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education, in a report on the budget, said the cuts would adversely affect the quality of education.
“The ministry will have to drastically revise downwards its stated objectives for 2011 as reflected in the blue book. The impact of the downward revision will be catastrophic. The ministry envisages poor pass rates, low quality education, lack of or no supervision of the education delivery mechanism, inadequate teaching materials and the continual mushrooming of illegal schools operating on the sidelines of conventional schools,” reads part of the report presented to Parliament.
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Cde Dokora said Government, with the assistance of Unicef, will start distributing textbooks to secondary schools in December after a survey was conducted on their requirements.
Primary schools are getting more than 13 million textbooks under the Educational Transition Fund, achieving the ratio of one textbook per pupil in all subjects.
The books are valued at US$70 million.
“At the beginning of the year a survey was carried out on what textbooks they (secondary schools) were using and were likely to use in the next three years.
“The ministry has already began identifying together with Unicef the textbooks and by the end of this year there will be textbooks for six core subjects to be distributed to pupils and other materials for teachers.
“However, parents through levies are also expected to contribute for the purchase of textbooks for the schools their children are attending,” Cde Dokora said.
Meanwhile, Cde Dokora refused to comment on the eviction of some teachers at Anglican church-run schools as the two factions in the church fight over ownership of properties.
“When a matter is before the courts or when a judgment is in the process of being implemented, the less we talk about it the better. The matter is subjudice and I would not want this House to debate an issue that is before the courts,” he said.
The Anglican Church split in 2007 over allegations that some church leaders condoned homosexuality.
The factions led by Bishops Nolbert Kunonga and Chad Gandiya have been fighting over ownership of property although a recent Supreme Court order gave Bishop Kunonga right of custody of the properties.
Online Reporter