Rurality and Higher Education in Zimbabwe

COUNTRY REPORT RURALITY AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN ZIMBABWE 1. Introduction The current form and status of the education system in Zimbabwe has its positive and negative attributes. The system has been shaped by both the distant and the recent historical past. The distant past was the foundational introduction of formal schooling to the majority black people with its successes and positive imprints although typically marred by the racial approach which had serious influences on how education came to be perceived generally. However, boosted by its bold policies and processes on education in the nearly forty years of post-independence governance, modern Zimbabwe has maintained a respectable spot on the continental and global standings. And despite other pitfalls confirming its status of being an underdeveloped and non-industrialised state, the country is recognized for its high education levels, reaching a literacy rate of 91.7 per cent in 2015 (IFAD Report, 2016). This has had its implications on the country’s developmental path and has brought about some expectations on the outcomes of such a successful exploit. The implications of the achievement of a high literacy rate are that basic education has found acceptance in the diverse cultural settings of Zimbabwe and has successfully permeated the various sections and levels of society through enhanced access, expedited by government drive and the general affordability of education to even the poorest people. Added to that, there have been commendable progression rates through the schooling phases, in turn leading to sustainable completion rates. Although the characteristic bottleneck at the top has remained, the higher and tertiary education sector has correspondingly ballooned in the last 20 years. Prior to that, the proportion of high school leavers who succeeded to reach university was almost negligible. By comparing access to completion rates at primary and secondary school levels, the situation is therefore incomplete. The expectations of a high literacy rate are that the country should begin to reap benefits from a more enlightened and better-skilled populace, and from the huge investments made in terms of time and other resources. The assumption here is that while driving the promotion of universal access to education, the important aspects of quality, relevance and impact were simultaneously addressed. However, this is debatable. Alongside claims that Zimbabwean education has quality and relevance, there have been concerns raised that contemporary Zimbabwean education has not correspondingly influenced the country’s socio-economic profile as would have been expected. In fact, the country has continued to languish in telling economic woes for close to two decades now, and apparently the solution do not seem near in sight. As a response to that, there have been efforts to constantly review political ideologies pertaining to education, policies, and curricula to create guidelines for effective transformation of learned minds to productivity and problem-solving in real life. The most recent in a series of endeavours has been the re-packaged STEM Education programme in 2016 that seeks to bring about accelerated industrialisation and modernisation of the economy. Embedded in the drive to avail quality and useful education is the underlying concept of inclusivity and equity. Many successful efforts based largely on the lines of gender equity, racial desegregation, and breaking class barriers have been promoted in Zimbabwe, and have yielded positive results. This report seeks to provide a background of Zimbabwe’s education system as a basis of analysis when engaging in a study of equity and inclusiveness in education. In particular, the report will position the rural student in the milieu of jostling for access into, and benefits derived from, university education. 1 The bilateral relationship between a rural student and a university is a matter of interest in modern society. 2. Methodology There is a wide range of literature on Zimbabwe’s Education system generated by individual scholars, institutions and organisations. Naturally, since the state is the key custodian of education in most countries, the pro-government sources tend to dwell on the policy and advocacy side, while other sources take a critical approach. 3. Documents analysis The availability of electronic resources of literature alongside the traditional printed paper documents makes it possible to quickly scan through various topics and aspects within a short time. However not all the relevant information is available on the internet and thus there was a need to seek more paper reports from the authors. 3.1 General In its simplicity, Zimbabwe’s education system is organized in a 7-4-2 pattern of primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary education. Secondary school consists of Form One to Form Six, with Form Four students studying an average of eight subjects, at the end of which they take the Cambridge School Certificate (CSC). From Form Five to six, they study normally a minimum of three subjects, at the end of which they sit the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council examinations, or the Cambridge Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations or take the CGE ‘A’ Level Certificate (National Council for Higher Education Harare, 2001). Once they have attained their CGE ‘O’ or ‘A’ levels, students can train towards a diploma in teaching, agriculture, nursing, and several technical courses. On achieving good ‘A’ level passes, they can enrol at a university for an undergraduate degree (National Council for Higher Education Harare, 2001). The main institutions offering higher education are universities, and technical and teacher training colleges (Mtetwa, Tambo, & Chavunduka, 2006). Tertiary Education (2 - 5 yrs) Senior High School (A Level - 2 years) Secondary School (O Level - 4 yrs) Primary Education (ECD + Grade 1-7 [8 yrs]) Figure 1: The phases of the Zimbabwean education system (2016) The current structure of the Zimbabwean education system comprises four key phases as indicated in Figure 1. For a successful candidate who goes straight through the stages, it takes a minimum of 13 years to complete the three lowest phases namely primary (7years), ‘O’ Level (4 2 years) and ‘A’ Level (2 years). The majority of the students go as far as ‘O’ Level and successful students join diploma awarding institutions such as Teachers colleges, Polytechnics, Colleges of Nursing or Agricultural Colleges. Only 10% of the ‘O’ Level candidates manage to proceed to do ‘A’ level which is the university entry qualification in Zimbabwean Universities. 3.1.1 Administration of schools Primary and secondary schools in Zimbabwe are administered by the following responsible authorities: government, churches/missions, city councils, rural district councils, mines, town boards, and farms, among others. The majority (about 75%) of the schools in Zimbabwe are administered by rural district councils and these schools fall under the rurality domain (see Table 1). The nature of the school administrator has a bearing on the quality of provision and the performance of learners in the schools. Table 1: Distribution of Primary School by Responsible Authority (2012) Responsible authority Primary Secondary No of schools % of schools No of schools % of schools Church/Mission 391 6.8 294 12.7 City Councils 117 2.0 14 0.6 District Councils (Rural) 4515 78.5 1669 72.2 Farm 118 2.1 16 0.7 Government 276 4.8 202 8.7 Mine 39 0.7 8 0.3 Other 87 1.5 45 1.9 Private Company 94 1.6 26 1,1 Town Board 19 0.3 14 0.6 Not stated 97 1.7 24 1.0 5753 100 2312 100 Source: Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, 2012 3.1.1 School attendance in rural and urban areas Table 2 shows a comparison of the percentage of students by school attendance in rural and urban areas as at April 2011. In the crucial 5 – 14 age groups for basic primary and secondary education, the average percentage of male and female pupils at school is higher in urban (94.15) is more than in rural (91.75). The reverse is true of the percentage that never attended school in the same age group. The comparable data for post-secondary attendance could not be obtained. Table 2: Percentage distribution of students by school attendance in rural and urban areas (2011) Sex and Rural Urban Age group At Left Never At Left Never School School attended School School attended Male 5-9 89.5 1.0 9.5 91.9 0.4 7.4 10-14 92.6 6.4 1.0 96.7 3.1 0.2 15-19 50.2 48.7 0.7 64.5 35.5 0.0 20-24 5.1 93.6 1.3 18.4 81.0 0.6 Female 5-9 91.1 0.7 8.1 92.4 0.8 7.4 3 10-14 94.0 5.5 0.6 95.4 3.7 0.2 15-19 45.2 54.3 0.4 50.0 49.4 0.0 20-24 1.6 97.5 0.7 11.1 88.5 0.6 Both sexes 5-9 90.3 0.8 8.8 92.2 0.6 6.8 10-14 93.2 5.9 0.8 96.1 3.4 0.3 15-19 48.1 51.3 0.6 55.8 43.9 0.3 20-24 3.2 95.6 1.0 14.2 85.3 0.4 Source: 2011 LFS 3.2 Policy The significant policy formulations on education in Zimbabwe have evolved since the early eighties, and they have largely centred and been formulated from a socialist philosophy inclined towards availing basic education to every citizen, particularly the appropriate age levels. The policy of free and compulsory primary school education for all was one of the first of a series of related and complementary policies to be pronounced early in the post-independence period.

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