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Bulawayo bureau
THE permanent secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Mrs Constance Chigwamba said the decline in academic performance in schools is largely because of lack of effective supervision of teachers. In an interview on the sidelines of the official presentation ceremony of the Secretary’s Bell to Sizane High School in Bulawayo yesterday, Mrs Chigwamba urged Government to increase funding to address the problem.

“We have been recording a decline in the performance of schools basing on the statistics of the national examination results and this is largely because of lack of effective supervision in schools,” she said.

Mrs Chigwamba said although Government managed to acquire vehicles for the inspectorate, her ministry needed more funding to ensure effective supervision. “In fact, without adequate funding there cannot be effective supervision of teachers.

We have, however, since acquired vehicles and we are starting to witness a gradual improvement in terms of performance as we are now able to conduct onsite inspection although we still need more funds to address challenges such as shortage of books and other resources,” said Mrs Chigwamba.

She said it was Government’s priority to ensure quality education in the country by equipping pupils with relevant knowledge and skills for self empowerment.