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The state of education in Zimbabwe - A dream shattered
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
February 18, 2009

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Background

Last week, the political parties proceeded to implement their power-sharing deal. This is the first step in the formation of a transitional government that is to oversee reforms, come up with a new constitution and then conduct an election. Zimbabweans have had to stand by and observe this process without being given the opportunity to participate, and perhaps they will feel that they have no choice but to continue to watch and wait for these developments to lessen their hardships. Many promises were made in the Global Political Agreement that have been ignored, so we should not be surprised if the trend continues.

But what should Zimbabweans do? Our role is to put maximum pressure on all the parties to this agreement to address our issues and our priorities. We must not wait for 100 days to pass and complain that nothing is happening. Every day matters and every day we should be speaking out and demanding change. Especially as most schools in the country have still not opened.

Education - a dream shattered

We as a people have always valued the education of our children more than anything else. For that we sell our precious beasts, work two jobs, travel across borders, go into exile, buy less food and once joined the liberation struggle. We hang the hard-earned certificates on the unpainted walls of our small homes, and ululate at the graduations. An educated son or daughter is our pride and joy, the fulfillment of years of struggle.

After Independence ZANU PF seemed to understand this burning desire of Zimbabweans, resources were allocated to the ministries of education and an expansion of schooling followed in the 1980's. Although there was still more that could have been done, by the mid-1990's we could boast of teachers' colleges training qualified teachers by the thousands, universities producing graduates to teach A-level, graduates obtaining further degrees to become college and university lecturers. We were the envy of Africa, with 90% adult literacy by 2002 and 98% youth literacy. Our school leavers could obtain places for tertiary education anywhere in the world, but they did not need to leave Zimbabwe, because our universities were developing and providing training in almost any field.

Teaching was a respected profession at one time, a teacher the most educated person in a rural community, a resource of knowledge to be shared. Teachers were never highly paid, but they could buy the necessities and some luxuries. Many even retired on a decent pension.

Who could have believed that we could sink so low as to reach the situation we are in today? Only private tertiary institutions function, government universities, colleges and schools are closed. The rot began many years ago; by 2001 the number of school-aged children not in school was already higher than in 1991, literacy rates had started to fall by 2002 and qualified teachers had begun leaving Zimbabwe by 2003. But the worst devastation has come in the past four years. Schools are closed because there are no teachers; teachers are not there because they have been chased away from their classrooms by the meager wage offered by government. Large numbers of them have opted to swim across the crocodile infested Limpopo River to seek a living wage in South Africa.

WOZA believe that a once vibrant education system, along with our children's lives, has been destroyed by political interference. The Mugabe regime stole from the education budget to fund political campaigns and pay an overstaffed intelligence department. They could not provide funding for schools, classrooms, textbooks and teachers salaries, and so today, in 2009 we have no education except for those few rich people who send their children to private schools. Even the defense forces whose activities were resourced at the sacrifice of the education system cannot afford to send their children to school.

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