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"