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State of the education sector in Zimbabwe 2010 report - Inside the Pandora box
Students Solidarity Trust
June 13, 2011

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Introduction

The report documents the state of Zimbabwe's education sector in the year 2010. It is the latest edition of the Students Solidarity Trust (SST)'s Inside the Pandora's Box annual series. This 2010 report focuses on the material and democratic tenets in its evaluation. The gist of the 2010 argument is that whereas there have been some minimal and noticeable improvements in the availability of education little of that has been premised on democratic tenets. Consequently, explanations of educational change rooted in material analysis premised in the political economy are helpful but inadequate to capture political dynamics in contemporary Zimbabwe. The report therefore adopts a political economy analytic framework that integrates a politicodemocratic perspective. The objective is to explain the state of the education sector in Zimbabwe in the year 2010. The report covers this territory in three interrelated parts. The first part sets the institutional context using domestic and international statutes. The second analytic part interrogates the developments in the education sector with a dual focus on availability indicators and democratic imperatives. Third, informed by both scientific inquiry and practical lessons, the research proposes concrete stratagems for the SST and government. This is the contested terrain that our research for 2010 charts. The next section provides the context for the study.

Setting the context

Zimbabwe has experienced an immense social, economic and political crisis in different proportions between 2000 and 2008 better defined as the 'Zimbabwe crisis' (Raftopoulos 2006:203). The crisis was marked by a breakdown of social services i.e. education and health provision, food shortages, corruption, political violence and collapse of the formal economy. The latter was characterised by massive retrenchments, informalisation of labour, loss of formal labour remittances to rural households, diversification of livelihoods, political displacements and replacements, flight of human capital and hyper inflation sky rocketing to 231 million percent in July 2008 (Kadzere 2008). Key features of the Zimbabwe crisis that reconfigured the social structure include the restructuring of the state as an instrument of violence and patronage and the rampant decline of the formal economy.

The economic crisis intertwined with an inconclusive and highly contested national election in March 2008 which was won by the MDC leader, Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, by an official margin that did not allow him to form a government. In the run-up to the Presidential run-off in June 2008 ZANU-PF unleashed political violence, terror and exterminated political opponents in order to retain state power. As a result of escalated violence and brutal murder of his supporters the MDC leader pulled out of the election and ZANU PF candidate Robert Gabriel Mugabe contested alone and was declared National President in June 2008. Until September 2008, most government functions, primarily the education sector, were virtually in limbo apart from state security organs. The relief came on 15 September 2008 when Zimbabwe's three main political parties, namely Zimbabwe African National Union -Patriotic Front (ZANU PF), Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC T) and Movement for Democratic Change 2 (MDC) signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that paved way for the eventual formation of the inclusive government on 13 February 2009.

The impact of a decade's crisis on education is likely to take long before it is resolved and its impact is to be felt for years to come. The economy and democratic environment is central to the revival of the education sector. Next is a synopsis of the economic and democratic environment.

Stability with no growth

The multi-currency system presents new opportunities and constraints for the education sector. On one hand it has resulted in the stability of the economy but with no substantial growth. In 2010, the Parliamentary committee on Investment and Economic Development replaced the Short Term Medium Economic Recovery Act (STERP) with the Medium Term Plan (MTP). At the end of the year the government managed to maintain inflation at single digit that is 3%. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on its article IV latest economic consultation the real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 9% in the year 2010 (IMF 2011). The report singled out that domestic debt and civil servants wage bill remain the 'main sources of fiscal pressures' (Ibid 2011). An audit earthed out 70, 000 ghost workers in the civil service and these continue to affect the wages for entire civil servants (IMF 2011). However, economic growth, calculated on neo-classical economic models, is based on the increase of per capita gross domestic product. The challenge is to ensure that growth translates into economic development. That is the increase in the standard of living in a nation's low income population as well as quality of living. Zimbabwe has endured economic stabilization in the year 2010 but it has not yet pointed to long term economic growth. Growth forecast for 2011 are put at 2.2% and zero for year 2012 due to the indigenization and empowerment act. This sets an operating environment for the education sector. How has it fared under these circumstances? This is the territory that this 2010 report charts.

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