IDEALS

HARARE, (Sep. 24, 2009) IPS/GIN – Primary and secondary school
education in Zimbabwe has “fallen woefully behind” other southern
African countries due to shortages of textbooks and other materials
as well as deteriorating working conditions and resultant low
morale for teachers.

Most affected are girls, who form the majority of children at
primary and secondary schools.

According to a newly published report by the National Education
Advisory Board (NEAB), there is now “a high level of absenteeism
(being) reported, including of school heads”.

The 14-member NEAB was appointed by the Minister of Education,
Sports, Arts and Culture, David Coltart in March to look into
problems affecting the education sector and come up with
recommendations. Its chairperson, Dr Isaiah Shumba, is a former
deputy minister of education.

“Parents and pupils had deserted schools because of the lack of
teachers. Teachers were reported to be poorly motivated and afraid.
They were neglecting their professional duties most of the time,”
reads the NEAB report, released just days before teachers called
off a nationwide strike over low pay and poor working conditions.

The report says 196,000 children drop out of primary school
annually, out of a total primary school enrolment that stood at
just under 2.5 million at the end of 2008. If the current trend
continues, half of these children won’t proceed to secondary
school.

“Such a large number of dropouts can prove a politically and
socially destabilising force, particularly given the lack of
economic growth and lack of employment opportunities,” reads the
NEAB’s Rapid Assessment of Primary and Secondary Education (RAPSE).

Failure to contain the situation could have “a serious potential
for political and social destabilisation”, as it condemns the
youths to unskilled and poorly-paid work, if not outright
unemployment.

“The shrinkage of secondary education also raises concerns,” says
the RAPSE.

Girls constitute 50.5 percent of the enrolment at primary and
secondary school at present. But enrolment is one thing, actually
getting an education is another.

“(Girls) are often not at school, (which) renders them even more
vulnerable to abuse in various forms,” the NEAB report says. At
school, “girls are often raped by their teachers, especially
headmasters.”

Though the report contained no statistics, it suggested that
incidents are most common in the new resettlement areas, where
children have been uprooted from communities which would normally
offer them some protection.

Following land seizures by the government, a number of schools have
been set up, usually in warehouses in former commercial farms, to
cater for the children of the “new farmers”.

The water crisis in urban areas, which has led to the collapse of
sewer and reticulation services, is also impeding education. Girls
are often forced to walk long distances looking for water, exposing
them to contact with raw sewage and unsafe drinking water. This
exposes them to diseases, which also affects their participation
at school.

The report has proposals that could see school become the focal
point for rural water supply. It says the construction of at least
one “borehole for every rural primary school will assist girls and
women who have to collect water for the household. Girls will then
be saved from having to fetch water from distant areas.”

The NEAB urges the Ministry of Education, Sports, Art and Culture
“to undertake some immediate reforms, many of which do not require
additional funding.”

Among these reforms, the report proposes “bringing teachers and
communities closer together through a community development
approach to fund raising for the school”. The establishment of
school fees sub committees will also ensure that fees are charged
in line with the economic status of parents, encouraging more
accountability of fees and bursaries, in particular recommendations
to BEAM.

To ease the shortage of textbooks, the report says the government
should “remove customs duties on raw materials required for
printing text books, and suspend tax on sale of textbooks to enable
schools to acquire textbooks”.

“There is a serious shortage of textbooks in schools at present,
making it difficult for quality education to be achieved.”

The report also proposes that primary education should be free for
all pupils, as is the case in some southern Africa countries. Early
this year, the government announced that primary education in rural
areas would be free.

Pupils in urban areas pay 20 U.S. dollars in high-density areas
and $150 in wealthier parts of town. Secondary school pupils are
required to pay between $50 and $200. But while the tuition fees
are low, most schools are charging more than double those amounts
in development levies.

It also proposes that at secondary schools, parents should
contribute part of teachers’ salaries. In cases where parents
cannot afford this, the state and donors should subsidise indigent
families.

Teachers’ unions however view the plan as scandalous.

“As teachers we are opposed to that,” said Raymond Majongwe,
Secretary General of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
(PTUZ). “It will create dual allegiance, where teachers ultimately
don’t know who their employer is. We should go back to a rare
ZANU-PF success story, where the government paid for the education
of all children. It would be scandalous to allow a situation where
parents are fleeced of their hard earned cash.”

Majongwe supported the view contained in the report that
scholarships should be structured in a way that benefits girls, and
cushion them from dropping out. He said teachers should be
specially trained to cater for girls’ needs.

“At the moment, the environment at schools favours boys than girls.
A lot of these girls come to schools in numbers, but if you look
at the top the girl child is not there. This has long term effects
even on the presence of women in decision-making positions.”

Most girls who fall pregnant at school are expelled and usually
find it to resume after maternity. Majongwe said there was “need
to make sure that those girls that fall pregnant at school should
be accommodated.”

The U.N. Children’s Agency (UNICEF) has partnered with
international donors to inject 70 million U.S. dollars into the
education system. The money would be used to purchase textbooks and
“reach every child in Zimbabwe with a text book within 12 months.”

The announcement was made by UNICEF representative in Zimbabwe,
Peter Salama, who also announced that his organisation was reviving
the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) to assist children
with fees.

In the view of Education Minister David Coltart, no matter how much
resources are put at schools, the biggest challenge is to convince
teachers to work under current conditions while negotiations
continue. Coltart got some relief on Sep 19 when the Zimbabwe
Teachers Association called off a three weeks long teachers strike.