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The
Child Law Watch-May 2008
Justice
for Children Trust
May 2008
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The teacher
exodus and the living realities of school children in Zimbabwe
As an organization that works in the provision of free legal services
to children in Zimbabwe JCT came across a worst case scenario in relation
to the exodus of qualified teachers to neighboring countries in search
of greener pastures. The recent spate of political violence has also caused
teachers to flee fearing for their lives. Besides the economic challenges
the Progressive
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) reported that as at 11 May 2008,
250 schools have been affected by at least one of the following:
- Closed and turned
into militia bases
- Teachers abducted
and assaulted.
- Pupils both male
and female above 15 years forced to attend political vigils where sexual
abuse is taking place
- Teachers intimidated
and their property looted
The PTUZ reports
that at an average school enrolment of 500, the projected number of pupils
without instruction due to displacement of teachers is 250,000. At the
Secondary school visited by JCT, the team noted that the school had been
left with only one lady teacher after all the others had left and she
has to look after about 200 children. The teacher indicated that she was
actually performing the role of school head and the children were only
learning Shona and English since she is a languages teacher.
The most saddening fact is that exam classes will not be able to sit for
their final exams because they have not learnt much this year and even
if they manage to get a few more teachers they won't be able to finish
the syllabuses given the time that is left. Even pupils in the lower grades
also suffer as they move on to a higher grade without passing the lower
grade and this compromises the quality of education. This scenario exemplifies
the dire situation that children are finding themselves in for instance
the pain that they will go through as a result of failing to sit for exams.
The situation of teachers is a major concern and many schools in Harare
closed the previous term before children had written their end of term
tests and some of them had no entries on their report books because of
the long strike by teachers. This scenario has shown that the effects
of the extremely harsh economic and political environment the country
is in at the moment has far reaching consequences for the children . In
such a situation as the one under discussion there are several other associated
problems like child to child violence (bullying), all forms of harassment
and the school is actually heading towards temporary closure. The most
worrying realization is that there seems to be no practical solution to
the plight of Zimbabwean teachers in the near future. The long term effect
is a deterioration in the quality of education in Zimbabwe.
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