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Moving forward in Zimbabwe Reducing poverty and promoting growth 3. Education and training for the region 3.1 Expand, improve and reinforce teacher education to make teachers’ colleges regional institutions serving the SADC Region, in particular South Africa, as well as the Africa Region as a whole. Already some SADC countries are making use of secondary teacher training courses in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has some outstanding primary teacher education courses, including the ZINTEC course which combines distance education with face-to-face teaching. These primary education programmes should be made available to neighbouring countries. 3.2 There are a number of university courses which can be made available to neighbouring countries, particularly through a combination of distance education and face-to-face teaching. B C B C MOE, teachers colleges, UZ, SADC partners MOE, universities 4. Linking education to real life challenges 4.1 Real life challenges should be integrated into the curriculum at all levels of education. B C MOE, stake-holders, teachers’ colleges, 4.2 Teacher education programmes, including in-service training, should be adjusted to B C teachers’ unions include real life challenges 5. The Development of Values, Principles and Moral Education 5.1 The creation of a national consensus on values and principles is an immediate and permanent challenge and requires a concerted national effort, using the mass media, meetings, debates, etc. 5.2 The curriculum at all levels must be adjusted to incorporate such values and principles 5.3 Teacher education and higher education institutions need to incorporate values and principles into their programmes B C MOE, stake-holders, teachers’ colleges, teachers’ unions 6. Improvement of the quality of education. The quality of education can include the curriculum and textbooks; the quality of teaching; the administrative processes; the measurable achievements in terms of examinations; and the relevance to life in terms of employment prospects, quality of life, etc. 6.1 Primary education is the foundation of all education. It is also a basic human right. Initially it is essential that the existing primary education system be implemented as effectively as possible. However, in the medium term there is a need to adjust the curriculum to include the new knowledge, skills and challenges which have emerged over the last two and a half decades, into the curriculum, so some curricular reform is needed. A B C MOE, stake-holders, teachers colleges universities 6.2 The expansion of education for all, to include nine years of education as under the agreed SADC Protocol, will require an adjustment of the system, including the curriculum. 6.3 Presently pre-school education is not well funded, although it nevertheless has wide coverage due to parental and community involvement. An important input would be the improvement of the curriculum and teacher training. 6.4 The secondary school curriculum requires major adjustments, as the present system ensures that 80 per cent of the students fail, a serious indictment of the system. The archaic British “O” levels which have now been drastically changed in Britain itself, are patently suitable only for the top 20 per cent of the children. An important change will be the provision of a more differentiated curriculum and schooling after Grade 9, especially suitable technical/ vocational education. This is a long-term approach and is likely to be costly, as more equipment and more specialised teachers are needed, so will need to be implemented in phases. Every child should have the right to a post-9 th year of schooling or training, in particular to enable them to earn a living. 6.5 Technical and vocational education need to be both expanded and adjusted to include both lower and higher levels of knowledge and skills. Short ‘one skill’ training is essential to enable school leavers to find jobs or to create employment for themselves. At the same time more in-depth high technology courses are also required to enable Zimbabwean industries to be competitive. B C B C B C B C MOE, polytechnics vocational schools private sector, donors 132
Moving forward in Zimbabwe Reducing poverty and promoting growth 6.6 The present imbalance in university courses, favouring humanities and commerce, rather than science, technology, agriculture, medicine, engineering and industrial skills needs to be reviewed, with a serious attempt to revamp the universities so that they can provide the essential skills to profoundly transform Zimbabwe’s economy. 6.7 Tertiary education institutions will benefit from staff exchanges with sister institutions in neighbouring countries and overseas in order to provide staff with opportunities to renew their academic and professional capabilities 6.8 Many of the buildings constructed in the 1980s require maintenance. There is also a shortage of equipment and school materials. It is suggested that the School Development Committees be provided with a small grant each year for these purposes, with the MOE providing technical support and supervision. 7. Involvement of the community and decentralisation 7.1 Parents and dedicated teachers have played a critical role over the last decade in ensuring that primary and secondary schools continue to provide their services under very trying circumstances. No doubt they will continue to play this role, as they have a vested interest in ensuring continuity and quality of education for their children. The state and donors can play a catalytic role in enabling such contributions to be augmented and directed towards greater quality and equity. For example scholarship programmes can be provided both at elite and other schools to cater for those parents struggling to pay school and examination fees. A system by which about 20 per cent of places in every school are scholarship places provided for by a combination of state, donor and community funding can assist in bringing education to the poorest sections of the community who have now been excluded. 7.2 Parents and communities are a rich resource of human capacities which can be tapped to enrich and improve the education of their children. Already the School Development Committees (SDCs) have demonstrated their ability to keep schools operating. These capacities can be further tapped to enable SDCs to repair and maintain existing facilities, and to establish new facilities, provided that the state not only allows this, but also provides grants and supervision. Systems were set up after Independence to enable parents and communities to contribute to the education of their children. These systems have proven to be sufficiently robust to enable most schools to survive a decade of deprivation. However it is evident that the system requires renewal, as some problems have become more conspicuous. All of these problems can and should be solved by collaboration between the state, parents and communities. This lack of coordination is problematic. 7.3 Parents in agricultural communities have been providing basic foods to teachers, and such contributions should continue. 7.4 A very substantial number of school children are suffering from stunting and malnutrition. Schools, together with parents, private sector and donors, can assist in establishing supplementary feeding programmes. B C B C A B C A A B C A B C MOE, universities private sector donors MOE, tertiary institutions MOE, SDCs MOE, SDCs, teachers associations MOE, SDCs, teachers associations MOE, SDCs, teachers associations B C MOE, trade unions 8. Non formal education 8.1 Non formal education has an important role to play in establishing shared values and this sector to serve these different goals. 6 principles, enabling those who missed out on education to have a second chance, and providing new and additional knowledge and skills to those who are unemployed. There is need to expand 9. Strengthening policy and strategy development 9.1 Strengthen the Ministry of Education Departments at national, regional and district levels to enable them to perform their duties effectively. This will entail renewing and repairing equipment, provision of levels of operational funding that will allow at least a minimum level of support and supervision to schools. 9.2 There is need for an ambitious renewal of in-service training for MOE staff because of the high turnover during the last decade due to serious loss of staff to the private sector, the NGO sector and the diaspora. B C B C MOE, private sector, donors MOE, training institutions, donors 133
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