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.