Why is Zimbabwe facing a downfall in the education sector?

The country's education system was once the most developed on the continent, although it continues to suffer from a contemporary decline in public funding linked to hyperinflation and economic mismanagement TIME magazine reported in 2008 that "in the mid-1990s there was a national O-level pass rate of 72 per cent....in the year 2007 it crashed to 11 per cent". This culminated in the cancelling of the school year in 2008. Zimbabwean teachers have gone on strike in recent years over low salaries, poor working conditions, political violence and election results, further aggravating the situation.

 UNICEF asserts that 94 percent of rural schools, serving the majority of the population were closed in 2009 and 66 of 70 schools abandoned. The attendance rates plummeted from over 80 percent to 20 percent.Learning only resumed in urban cases where teachers’ salaries were covered in US dollars by parents, creating a widening gap between rural and urban schools, and further incensed by a mass fleeing of teachers to neighboring countries.

Economic downturn has caused numerous vulnerable schoolchildren to drop out over the years, though new programmes aim to rectify the situation. Recently, large investments in education have been provided by UNICEF, the international donor community and the Government of Zimbabwe, through the Educational Transition Fund (ETF) and The Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM). BEAM aims to offset costs for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). These funds together help combat problems associated with deteriorating buildings, lack of supplies and shortage of resources in general.

The question i would like to pose to all Zimbabweans today is: 

Is there political commitment to education in Zimbabwe?


This is actually a rhetorical question to people who have been following the trends of education levels in Zimbabwe, especially from 1995 up to date. The standards for the education sector in Zimbabwe have been steadily decreasing. The education sector has  in recent years seen many girls from poor homes failing to access primary education, increasing primary and secondary school drop outs, deterioration of services and infrastructure at public schools and a proliferation of new private schools rendering education expensive to the poor who have remained excluded.

Despite all this talk, since 1995, Zimbabwean politicians and government representatives have appeared in the media of late boasting of achieving an adult literacy rate of over 90%. A quite disturbing observation i must say, because most people remain in darkness about the continuously decreasing education standards in our country. O-level examination results have been consistently low for the past 10 years. Poor remuneration levels, limited opportunities for professional and financial promotion in the system, and inadequate support for teachers in school through in-service training and supervision have lead to a rapid decline in the attractiveness of the teaching profession, yet its one of the professions that have been ululated by our forefathers.

Civil society and key stakeholders in the education sector are therefore being challenged to scale up advocacy and campaign work to lobby government to allocate more resources to schools for increased access to quality education and inclusive education among girls and boys in rural and urban areas, improve teacher salaries and invest in civic education which promotes political involvement of the poor. Participation in politics of marginalised communities depends on how people access education and there is voter apathy because people are illiterate.

Education is a basic human right and as such, it needs to be provided for by the state to all citizens on a non-discriminatory basis that is irrespective of political affiliation, gender and ethnicity.