Online Reporter
Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Teachers Association has called for increased funding for education in terms of its proportion to the GDP, the association’s chief executive officer, Dr Sifiso Ndlovu, has said.
Dr Ndlovu said this at an interactive workshop with parliamentarians this Tuesday under the Go Public: Fund Education campaign, held under the theme, “Strengthening Public Education Financing Through Evidence-Based Dialogue.”
He said the funding of education should be in line with the Incheon Declaration, which provides for education funding between 4-6 percent of GDP.
“Give us the money for Zimbabwe’s education we want. We should improve our budget processes by looking at the ratio of allocation to GDP,” Dr Ndlovu said.
He also said his organisation appreciated that the funding of the education sector was predominantly from domestic resources through Treasury and School Development Associations, but said foreign assistance was also welcomed.
“One thing we should be proud of is that our education is domestically financed through SDC’s and Treasury, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need assistance. We could do with some help,” he said.
He also said while the budget allocation for education was always the highest in nominal terms, there was a need to improve it in actual terms
“Let Zimbabwe become known not only for prioritising education in principle, but for financing it in practice,” he said.
“The measure of our commitment will not be the speeches we make about education, but the resources we place in the hands of those who teach our children.”
