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Secretary for Education
Dr. Douglas Magomo

Department members
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Zimbabwe Current Educational Crisis

MDC-USA Department of Education

Cry the beloved country: What used to be, no longer is; Education System in ruins.

The UNICEF article by Tsitsi Singizi, dated October 8, 2008, on the UNICEF website, vainly explains what Zimbabweans knew had happened to the education system in Zimbabwe since the assumption of duty of Gideon Gono as governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. In her article Tsitsi quoted the UNICEF Representative, Mr. Roeland Monasch:

            “Education remains the engine to drive Zimbabwe’s long-term prospects. It is critical that the sector is not left to collapse, enduring solutions on salaries, food and working conditions should be reached soon,  the monitoring visits should be beefed up, the situation in schools require urgent action,”

I concur.

For one to understand the education system trajectory in Zimbabwe pre-MDC formation to date, it is necessary first to acknowledge that the politicization of government on private institutions did not leave out the teaching and learning environments from kindergarten to higher education.

But first, Zimbabwe inherited from the Smith regime an education system that valued academic effort and professionalism. For Mugabe to have risen to the political position of leadership, he had to be a teacher first. Teachers in any community were respected individuals. They were considered as key holders for any bright future. Teachers once had salaries that would buy furniture, bicycles and cars within months of savings. Teachers had houses, decent accommodation and teachers were respected members of society. They were the role models. That is now history. It was fast-tracked history ever since Gideon Gono, became governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwean children once had a future. Not before Gono started conniving with Mugabe making deals and looting donor funds through their so-called quasi-fiscal activities. Children used to have a guaranteed meal at school. School children used to dress up in uniforms, colors and patterns of a variety. Mugabe’s government reneged on school systems. Soon they were calling for one uniform, one color. Again that too became too much to ask from parents who could no longer afford a pair of shoes for their children. All this is no more, thanks to Mugabe’s desire to remain in power at all costs.

Let us be clear here. Zimbabwe used to be a member of the Commonwealth Group, a group of countries that were once British colonies. Mugabe, single handedly pulled Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth Organization, and, by so doing, he denied thousands of Zimbabwe students who could have been beneficiaries of Commonwealth scholarships. Zimbabwe used to uphold education standards by maintaining the British system of education through the Cambridge Examination system of evaluation. Once he discovered that the British Donor community was asking for accountability for their generous donations, Mugabe advocated for nationalization of education system. Local Examination Boards were set up. What used to be a competitive educational system internationally became a regional if not national system, lacking international recognition and value.

It did not end there. The rivalry between ZANU-PF and MDC soon began to involve teachers and students. Mugabe’s people began to target teachers who were perceived to be MDC supporters. Their homes and properties were destroyed and burnt down. Many unlucky ones lost their lives. For some time qualified teachers were being chased away from their schools with local Zanu PF administrators with the help of Joint Operations Command, military junta. They replaced them with their sons and daughters who had not been trained as  teachers. What used to be a system of education that upheld standards became a politicized system. Meanwhile through Gono’s quasi-fiscal activities the economy of the country was decaying rapidly. Gono’s printing of money and introduction of higher bearer check denominations fuelled hyperinflation. As a result teachers’ salaries could hardly afford transport to and from work. Many teachers left the teaching field. Many left the country for better pastures in South Africa, Botswana, U.K and Australia. For every salary dispute between the ministry and the Teachers’ Associations, Mugabe’s response was violence and repression. Instead of responding to teachers’ needs and children’s future, Mugabe saw teachers as agents of regime change. They became his enemies. They became lame ducks waiting for marauding Border Gezi trained youth militia, who would rape, kill and loot with impunity.  These are well documented truths that have led us to where we are, the crumbled educational system.

Schools have become training bases for Zanu PF militia and military junta. Year after year, Mugabe buys support through his patronage system of appeasement and reward. He has reneged on education and health, preferring to channel most of the country’s GDP into the army and police forces where he buys protection by paying soldiers and policemen with high salaries.

There was a period of time where educational institutions were places of corrupt business practices where administrators would hike fees every often. Their argument was so as to keep pace with hyperinflation. Therefore within a month, parents would be asked to pay fees twice, in some cases students would be asked to bring portions of scarce commodities such as sugar and cooking oil. That has since gone with the dollarization of the economy. Now only those who can afford paying in foreign currency are managing to send their children to school, with some schools charging exorbitant fees of US$2,100.00 per trimester. Mugabe is a well known sovereignty propagandist. One wonders what sovereignty if school fees is now payable in foreign currency. Those schools that are still operational do not have adequate books, chalk, furniture and teaching boards. Worse, qualified teachers who could afford to leave the country have left. Many continue to leave.

Education administrators have lost their mandate to monitor and uphold school standards because they too are struggling to earn a living. Teachers, education officers and students spend time either queuing for salary withdrawals or purchase of scarce commodities. Many students are now preferring to spend their time in these queues, buying anything on sale in order to then sale the same for a bit of profit. This is indeed ‘Survival of The Fittest’ law of the jungle created by Mugabe and his  ZANU-PF culprits. The accelerated economic erosion has seen Zimbabweans dealing with large figures, trillions and quadrillions and now zillions of dollar money. Understanding the number system and the algebra with such large numbers does not add much to understanding mathematics, instead, some people have argued that using base 10 or base 2 would reduce the sophistication and complexity, hence such language as “1 meter” for a bearer check of ZW$1, 000, 000.00.

Reports are that last year, students had 54 school days throughout the year. Political unrest, elections and school activities disruptions by Zanu PF functionaries on forced meetings and political rallies, are some of the many reasons that have reduced the academic year to 54 days.

As Zimbabweans, the fundamental question is on what to do to resuscitate this educational decline. Our children are being denied their right to education. Whether you support the struggle for change or not, the future of the country rests in our children. We must do something to bring change in the education system. We must unite as Zimbabweans to help salvage the little that remains. We need to return the school standards to where they were in the late 80s.

  The most recent developments in the education system are hard to believe. As we write, the government recently announced a two week postponement of school opening to the end of January. Those teachers that have remained in the country are said to be busy marking 2008 end of year examinations. The ministry of education justifies this postponement by arguing that most teachers are marking these examinations. How pathetic and miserable is that on Mugabe policies.

Teachers’ Unions are viewing this move as failures on the part of this government to address teachers’ conditions of service. Teachers are expected to survive on a salary of ZW$26 000 000.00 per month, which is not enough to buy four loaves of bread. If this amount is converted to US dollars it is much less than US$3.00. Meanwhile these teachers’ unions are demanding reasonable salaries in foreign currency. As long as Mugabe’s government approaches teachers’ grievances with the usual violence and victimization, Zimbabwe’s road to recovery and development will remain a ‘Bridge To Nowhere.’

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE IN OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.