§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development (1) what assistance Her Majesty's Government(a) is providing and (b) has provided since 1990 to primary education in Zimbabwe; [34530]
(2) what assessment she has made of the availability of teachers in Zimbabwe in each year since 1990; [34528]
(3) what assessment she has made of the availability of (a) primary and (b) post primary education in Zimbabwe in each year since 1990. [34527]
§ Hilary BennDFID has assisted a number of reviews of the education sector in Zimbabwe in the last 10 years. Between 1979 and 1996, Zimbabwe made major achievements in increasing equity and access to education. The number of primary schools doubled—from 2,321 to 4,659—as did enrolment figures which rose from 1.24 to 2.49 million children. The number of secondary schools increased by 763 per cent. from 177 to 1,528, and enrolment increased by 923 per cent. to around 0.75 million. Since 1990, UK assistance in this sector has been modest, with projects aiming to improve the quality of teacher training and to localise the examination curriculum.
Zimbabwe still has a strong education system in comparison to most other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The net enrolment rate for primary education is currently 85 per cent. and in 1996, the last year for which statistics are available, 79 per cent. of primary school children continued on to secondary school. There are currently an estimated 104,000 teachers in Zimbabwe, the 345W overwhelming majority of whom are trained graduates. However the education system is weakening, as are other social services, as a result of falling public spending; the rapidly rising costs of fees, books and paper; the impact of HIV/AIDS; and emigration of qualified personnel. DFID is currently assisting a study of the impact of HIV/AIDS on education.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the supply of staple foodstuffs in Zimbabwe in each year since 1990. [34526]
§ Hilary BennMaize is the staple foodstuff of Zimbabwe. DFID monitors crop forecasts through the SADC Famine Early Warning System, which also gives historical production data as follows:
Maize production (thousand metric tonnes) 1991 1,586 1992 361 1993 2,012 1994 2,326 1995 840 1996 2,609 1997 2,192 1998 1,418
Staff seconded to DFID from private sector since May 1997 Number of Staff Organisation Civil service grade and responsibilities Salary paid by Start and end dates 4 Natural Resources Institute 3 x A1 (former HCS Grade 6) NRI 3 x pre-1997 to April 1999 (NRI) 1 x A2 (former HCS Grade 7) natural resources research and advisory duties 1 x February 1999 to April 2000 1 Marconi 3 x A2 imfundo project team project planning responsibilities in the education sector Companies May to October 2000 1 Virgin One 1 Cisco Systems