District education offices are struggling to carry out basic administrative duties amid shortages of stationery, printing supplies and other essentials.
District education offices, which are meant to operate through allocations from the national budget, have increasingly relied on the now-suspended Better Schools Programme of Zimbabwe (BSPZ) to meet routine operational costs.
With BSPZ funds frozen amid corruption investigations, officials say basic services, from printing official correspondence to auditing schools, are being disrupted, raising questions over the sustainability of the sector’s current funding model.
An official who spoke to NewsDay on condition of anonymity, citing fears of victimisation, said several district offices were operating under severe resource constraints, with some unable to print official documents due to shortages of bond paper, printer toner and ink for official stamps.
“We can no longer print letters for our stakeholders because we do not have bond paper or toner for printers,” the official said.
“In many cases, we ask clients to photocopy or print the documents themselves because we simply do not have the resources. The lack of funding is taking a serious toll on our work.”
Primary and Secondary Education Ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro, however, dismissed suggestions that district offices were operating without funding, insisting Government had recently disbursed funds via provincial accounts.
“Some people may not be telling the truth because the ministry is providing funding,” he said.
“Budget releases were made recently through provincial accounts. It is not correct to say there are no resources at all.
“They may simply not be making proper follow-ups on their allocations.”
Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) secretary-general Goodwill Taderera said education should be funded directly through the national budget rather than relying on external programmes such as the BSPZ.
Taderera said ZIMTA will petition Parliament on Tuesday demanding increased public financing for education under its Go Public, Fund Education campaign.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said the proliferation of fundraising initiatives in schools showed Government had failed to adequately fund education.
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