Monday, 13 April 2015

Zimbabwe education system in doldrums

While Zimbabwe had made tremendous progress in education since 1980, achieving the highest literacy rate in Africa, the standards of education are continuously collapsing and institutions are now producing generations of mediocrity.

According to a report by The Commonwealth and the State of Education in Zimbabwe , written by ex-education minister David Coltart, since 2000 the political crisis and precipitous economic decline induced shocks and pressures that left many sectors, including education, on the verge of collapse.

Evidence on the ground suggests that the country’s education system is now also facing a crisis -one of the most serious in its history. Government, with support from development partners and other key stakeholders, invested heavily in the sector over the two-and-a-half decades following independence in 1980. Coltart wrote in a report which still largely reflects the current situation that primary schools and their pupil numbers increased from 2 410 and 820 266 in 1979 to 5 560 and 2 445 516 in 2006 respectively.

 Decreasing government expenditure on education has forced schools to increasingly rely on tuition fees and levies. The consequent rise in fees and levies has been a serious obstacle to educational access and completion for many school children. Lack of resources disproportionately affects the marginalised, especially girls. The use of student levies and fees to supplement salaries and retain teachers has exacerbated inequalities between students who can afford higher supplements and those from poor socioeconomic backgrounds.

The commission was appointed by President Robert Mugabe in 1998 to look into the problems in education. The commission took a swipe at poor administration and irrelevant curricula, recommending vocational education. It also recommended that the teaching methods should be changed to focus on skills, while reducing the focus on examinations.

However, none of these recommendations were took seriously by the government, leading to the tremendous collapse in the education sector.

children at school
 

Saturday, 11 April 2015

Issues and challenges faced in the provision of education in Zimbabwe

Access to education is still restricted amongst children from low socio-economic backgrounds, farming areas and other remote parts of the country. Despite the massive expansion of the education sector since independence, access, equity and quality of educational provision continue to persist, and rural district council day schools tend to be poor, whilst high-fee-paying private schools have superior facilities and staff.
To illustrate the issues of equity, access and quality of educational provision in Zimbabwe, Dr. Nherera made a specific reference to the Early Child Education and Care (ECEC). The presenter pointed out that ECEC was not included in the massive expansion of educational facilities that took place soon after independence. However, notable progress has been made particularly in rural and communal areas. The provision of ECEC, however, remains voluntary and it is not a prerequisite for pupils starting formal primary school. Most of the ECEC centers operating in Zimbabwe are not registered with the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture and statistics regarding the number of centers, enrolments, staffing and funding tend to be unreliable.

Dr. Nherera argued that in spite of notable progress in access to ECEC, statistics show that access remains extremely limited. It continues to be the most neglected sector in educational provision and it is children from a low socio-economic background who are most deprived of the early intellectual stimulation due to lack of access to ECEC centers. In addition, rural ECEC centers are generally poorly equipped, have inadequate buildings facilities, lack suitable playground equipment and are serviced by untrained or under-trained teachers.

The prevalence of high fee private schools for the elite has meant that while pupils in all schools might be following the same curriculum, children from affluent families who attend these resource-rich schools stand a better chance of passing their examinations than those from poor families and attending poorly resourced schools. Therefore, children from poor backgrounds are hardly able to break out of the poverty trap.
children in "class"

Thursday, 9 April 2015

"The awarding of the PHD to the president's wife is an insult"-: Zinasu's president, Gilbert Mutubuki.(2014)


Zimbabwe's poor education system might be the reason why students called for Grace Mugabe’s doctorate to be withdrawn in 2014.
Zimbabwe's main student body accused president Robert Mugabe of awarding a controversial doctorate of philosophy degree (PHD) to his wife Grace by the country's top university (University of Zimbabwe)

The news about the graduation of Grace Mugabe was not received in a good manner, with critics arguing that the First Lady had no capacity to attain such lofty qualification especially after her poor academic record with a British university was publicised a few years ago.

The Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) said that, since Mugabe is the chancellor of all Zimbabwe government run universities including the UZ , he capped his wife in August but the awarding of the degree was seen as a corrupt means of buttressing his wife's credentials as she seeks political office - and possibly the presidency when her husband dies.

ZINASU said it was not fighting the person of the First Lady but protecting the credibility of the country's education system.
"We have nothing against the First Lady but what we want is to protect the reputation of our education system so that we will not be underrated by the world in terms of our education," said Mutubuki.
 Zimbabwe students have called for Grace Mugabe’s doctorate to be withdrawn if it is established that procedure was not followed or there was manipulation of the process. Photo©Reuters

Students called for Grace's doctorate to be withdrawn if it is established that procedure was not followed or there was manipulation of the process.


"The education crisis in Zimbabwe has turned the nation ito a horrible graveyard of burried hopes for youths"

Despite all its problems, Zimbabwe has always boasted it has the highest literacy rates in Africa, but latest education statistics may leave long-time leader, President Robert Mugabe with a little egg on his face.
Results from a 2012 census indicate that one in two adults have never been to school, but unlike in most parts of the continent, more females than males received formal education.
The statistics, by the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (Zimstat) revealed that 51% of men had not been to school, while 49% of females had missed out on formal education. This fact poses a threat to the poor youths of Zimbabwe who are keen to get education to its highest levels. They are left with no hope because the poor education levels are being fueled by the crippled economy of the nation which has proven to be failing to improve but rather its getting worse on a daily basis.

Literacy levels in Zimbabwe are believed to be at 90%, the highest in Africa, although Zimstat says 97% of the country's 13 million people are literate.According to the report, in the capital, Harare there were slightly more males than females, who had never been to school and there were slightly more females than males at school. In a situation like this it is the youths who suffer the most because they make up most of the national population so it is the youth who comprise of the remaining illiterate population, thus threatening their aspirations in life.                                                           






The results that Zimstat do not only embarrass and tarnish the image of the president but they also pose a serious threat to the youths who are left hopeless. The question at hand now is: what are our dear political leaders doing when Zimbabwe's future leaders are so hopeless?