These
concerns
were
raised
on
Thursday
during
a
public
dialogue
on
Community
Voices
on
Corruption
in
the
Delivery
of
Education
Services,
organised
by
Transparency
International
Zimbabwe
(TIZ)
in
Bulawayo,
where
parents,
civil
society
actors
and
policy
analysts
lamented
how
the
education
sector
is
poorly
regulated
by
authorities.
The
discussion
also
came
against
the
backdrop
of
a CITE
investigation
that
exposed
how
a
bus
levy
scandal
in
Bulawayo
schools has
allegedly
morphed
into
a
multi-million-dollar
corruption
scheme,
implicating
Vordim
Trading,
a
Bulawayo-based
company
accused
by
whistle-blowers
of
bribing
school
officials,
manipulating
procurement
systems
and
inflating
the
prices
of
school
buses
by
hundreds
of
thousands
of
dollars.
Speaking
during
the
panel
discussion,
Jacqueline
Ndlovu
from
the
Women’s
Institute
for
Leadership
Development
(WILD)
said
corruption
in
education
procurement
and
governance
was
deepening
inequality,
particularly
for
women
and
girls.
“We
work
in
communities
doing
capacity
strengthening
so
communities
can
demand
accountability,”
Ndlovu
said.
“We
work
with
women
to
occupy
leadership
spaces
because
where
you
are
not
represented,
issues
will
not
be
amplified.”
She
said
while
Matabeleland
historically
and
“matriarchally”
valued
the
education
of
the
girl
child,
economic
hardship
and
corruption
were
eroding
those
gains.
“You
will
find
many
girls
educated,
but
over
time,
due
to
struggles
in
Zimbabwe,
education
inequalities
are
amplified,
especially
in
rural
areas,”
she
said.
Ndlovu
pointed
to
infrastructure
projects
allegedly
distorted
by
corruption,
saying
communities
were
paying
the
price.
“During
the
flood
season,
young
children
cannot
cross
rivers
because
somewhere
along
procurement,
someone
abused
money
meant
to
build
a
bridge,”
she
said.
She
also
criticised
inflated
school
construction
costs,
citing
examples
of
early
childhood
development
(ECD)
blocks
with
sub-standard
facilities.
“You
find
schools
constructing
two-classroom
ECD
blocks
with
poor-standard
toilets,
and
the
cost
is
exaggerated
to
US$125
000,”
she
said.
“Parents
are
then
forced
to
pay
US$120
over
nine
or
10
terms.
Women
cannot
afford
that.”
According
to
Ndlovu,
unaffordable
fees
were
driving
the
growth
of
unregistered
schools
in
urban
areas.
“Secondary
school
admission
fees
are
now
around
US$280.
Informal
women
are
already
struggling.
Schools
demand
money
for
extra
lessons,
uniforms
and
stationery
sold
at
the
school,”
she
said,
adding
that
girls
were
the
most
affected.
“People
then
borrow
cultures
that
say
investing
in
the
girl
child
is
futile
because
she
will
marry.
As
a
result,
more
girls
are
dropping
out
of
school.”
Policy
analyst,
Effie
Ncube,
argued
corruption
in
schools
was
a
symptom
of
state
retreat
from
regulation.
“Our
education
sector
is
over-deregulated.
To
be
honest,
the
government
is
no
longer
there.
They
are
somewhere
in
Harare.
There
is
absolutely
no
government,”
he
said.
Ncube
said
the
absence
of
effective
oversight
had
emboldened
school
authorities,
teachers
and
School
Development
Committees
(SDCs)
to
operate
with
impunity.
“How
on
earth
do
we
have
schools
with
three,
four,
five
buses
without
libraries,
without
laboratories?
Where
is
the
government
when
that
is
happening?”
he
asked.
Ncube
said
schools
were
prioritising
prestige
assets
over
learning
infrastructure,
often
justifying
buses
as
income-generating
projects.
“After
school,
they
become
transport
companies,
hiring
buses
for
weddings
and
funerals.
Where
is
that
money
going?
It
is
not
accounted
for
in
many
schools,”
he
said.
He
warned
corruption
had
permeated
every
aspect
of
school
administration.
“We
need
enforceable
policy
because
schools
are
now
serious
crime
scenes,
from
admissions,
examinations,
staff
recruitment,
procurement
and
assets,”
Ncube
said.
He
cited
admissions
corruption,
where
school
heads
allegedly
imposed
arbitrary
entry
requirements
to
boost
pass
rates.
“A
new
head
comes
in
and
decides
that
Form
One
learners
must
have
six
units.
Automatically,
that
school
no
longer
belongs
to
the
community,”
he
said.
“Parents
then
have
to
bribe
for
their
children
to
be
admitted.”
Ncube
also
criticised
exorbitant
school
trips
and
levies.
“One
parent
said
their
child
was
required
to
pay
US$500
to
go
to
Chinhoyi
Caves,
not
London.
Chinhoyi
is
here.
These
things
happen
because
the
government
is
not
there,”
he
said.
Ncube
called
for
stronger
state
presence,
anti-corruption
policies
and
digital
systems
such
as
e-procurement
to
curb
manipulation.
“We
need
more
government,
not
less
government,
regulating
what
is
happening
in
schools,”
he
said.
Responding
to
the
concerns,
the
Ministry
of
Primary
and
Secondary
Education
acknowledged
corruption
challenges
but
argued
that
weak
community
participation
was
enabling
abuse
by
some
SDCs
and
school
heads.
Director
of
Communications
and
Advocacy,
Taungana
Ndoro,
said
the
problem
often
originated
from
corrupt
SDC
committees
claiming
to
act
on
behalf
of
parents.
“We
have
the
school
development
assembly,
which
is
all
parents,
and
then
the
SDC
is
selected
to
represent
the
parents.
The
moment
this
committee
is
corrupt,
(it
causes
trouble).
If
the
head
of
the
school
is
also
corrupt
and
the
committee
is
also
corrupt,
the
committee
will
come
in
saying,
‘we
are
keeping
the
mandate
of
the
parents
and
the
parents
have
agreed
that
we
purchase
the
bus
at
the
supplier,
which
is
supplying
the
bus
at
$210
000,”
Ndoro
said.
Ndoro
said
such
corruption
was
often
legitimised
through
paperwork.
“There
are
minutes,
signatures,
approvals
from
the
province
and
head
office.
A
school
takes
a
US$210
000
loan
to
buy
a
bus,
and
parents
are
left
to
pay.
Then
they
complain
later,”
he
said.
He
acknowledged
some
schools
were
acquiring
buses
without
basic
infrastructure.
“The
community
sees
deterioration,
sees
schools
buying
buses
without
labs
or
perimeter
walls,
but
remains
quiet,”
Ndoro
said.
He
also
likened
SDC
representation
to
parliamentary
representation,
arguing
that
absence
allowed
abuse.
“Just
like
an
MP
represents
even
those
who
didn’t
vote,
SDCs
represent
parents
who
don’t
attend
meetings,”
Ndoro
said.
Ndoro
cited
cases
in
Matabeleland
North
and
South
where
parents
working
outside
the
country
were
not
present
to
challenge
school
decisions.
“We
have
a
challenge,
particularly
in
Matabeleland
South
and
Matabeleland
North
and
parts
of
Bulawayo
where
parents
are
absent.
They
are
in
South
Africa
and
Botswana,
leaving
their
children
to
be
raised
by
grandparents,
or
some
of
them
are
child-aided
families,”
he
said.
“When
the
head
calls
for
a
parents’
meeting,
there
are
very
few
real
parents
there.
Gogo
doesn’t
go
because
she’s
too
tired
to
walk
the
school
distance
and
the
child
in
the
child
headed
family
will
be
doing
something
else.
You
end
up
having
just
a
few
parents
who
then
get
into
a
deal
with
the
head
of
the
school
and
say,
‘okay,
we
have
agreed,
let’s
increase
the
fees.’”
Ndoro
cited
a
recent
case
of
a
school
in
Tsholotsho,
where
fees
doubled
and
parents
in
South
Africa
complained
they
were
not
consulted.
“We
had
to
reconvene
another
meeting
and
ask
gogos
to
come
and
those
guardians
who
stayed
with
those
children
to
come,”
he
said.
Ndoro
insisted
the
ministry
remained
open
to
whistle-blowers.
“The
community
should
not
keep
quiet.
We
will
protect
your
identities
even
if
you
write
to
us
or
WhatsApp,
we
investigate
the
issue.