LEGISLATORS and civil society organisations (CSOs) have called for the enactment of the National Education Trust Fund Bill that will assist in covering the current budget shortfalls affecting the sector.
This was revealed at a workshop in Harare on Tuesday to discuss the model Bill. The workshop was jointly organised by the Zimbabwe Network of Early Childhood Development Actors (ZINECDA) and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education.
Portfolio committee chairperson Ophias Murambiwa said the Bill would help in catering for funds shortfalls.
“This Bill will help to fund what is in our schools. The budget allocation that we get from Treasury is, to some extent, not adequate to fund everything that is needed in the education system,” he said.
“Most of the money that the sector gets from Treasury goes to employment costs, so this will actually assist in the provision of quality education, improve learning and teaching materials.”
Ruwa legislator Thomas Muodzeri called on stakeholders to support the Bill, adding that it would be important for the education sector’s development, especially at early childhood development (ECD) stage.
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“The Bill should be supported by everyone with a very good mindset in terms of provision of education to our learners, especially the ECD, even up to tertiary level. We have tried to plug all the loopholes in terms of abuse of the Bill in the event that it sails through,” he said.
ZINECDA national co-ordinator Kudzayi Khosa said the Bill would ensure that children have access to education.
“Our role in the Education Financing Trust Bill is to have a sustainable financing system for education in Zimbabwe to ensure that all children have access to education,” he said.
“As stipulated in the Education Amendment Act, so we have been working with Parliament and Ministry of (Primary and Secondary) Education. We have also been working with other CSOs and development partners in order to ensure that this Bill is drafted, reviewed and we hope that it will be passed.”