Lack of teacher training colleges in Zimbabwes southern regions has raised tribal and political tensions as the minority Ndebele group resists the deployment of teachers from President Robert Mugabes Shona tribe. Most teacher training colleges are concentrated in areas dominated by the Shona, creating a shortage of Ndebele teachers to cater for schools in the south. Some residents in the southern regions - second city Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South provinces - have agitated for breaking away from Zimbabwe on the grounds of being deliberately sidelined and undermined by Mugabes government. However, secession demands have been thwarted and some individuals have been charged with treason over the years. Zimbabwes new Constitution acknowledges 16 languages but Shona remains dominant, creating tensions in some areas as parents resist their children - especially in early grades - being taught by people who do not speak their mother language. In an interview Jabulani Sibanda, leader of veterans of the 1970s war of independence, the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, said the problem was that the country was training more teachers in other provinces. Sibanda, who comes from the affected southern region and is also a fierce Mugabe loyalist, said the issue was not tribal but emanated from a lack of teacher training in those regions. We do not have a single teacher college in Matabeleland North; Matabeleland South has only one. In contrast, the southern Masvingo province had three teacher colleges and a technical college and Manicaland in the east had two teacher colleges and a polytechnic. Trouble brewing The problem of the lack of Ndebele teachers has seen some citizens taking the law into their own hands to force government to build colleges in their region that will cater for the Ndebele. Recently seven people appeared in the Plumtree magistrates court after storming Makuzeze Primary School and demanding that Headteacher Victoria Pasipanodya leave, saying they wanted Ndebeles to be trained and take her place. Last month the Ministry of Education said it would probe the matter - but the investigation was shelved seemingly because of political pressure. Zimbabwes southern regions have always complained of being marginalised and claim that it is because they come from a minority group - descendents of the Zulus in South Africa who fell out with King Shaka in the early 19th century and headed north, conquering and assimilating other clans along the way and ending up in what is now southern Zimbabwe. They also cite the collapse and relocation of most industries in Bulawayo.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:55:24 +0000
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