Zimbabwe EFA Country Profile 2014

General Context

A landlocked country of southern Africa located to the north of South Africa, Zimbabwe numbers a population of about 13.7 million inhabitants. It is a low income country with GDP per capita estimated at US$ 714 in 2012. The country has undergone recent periods of sociopolitical instability, affecting the macroeconomic environment and entailing negative economic growth between 2002 and 2008. However, it appears to be resuming an economic growth pattern, and in 2012 real GDP growth was estimated at 4.4 percent. The country is therefore offering a macroeconomic environment which is again favorable to the mobilization of the resources required to respond to social demands, and those of the school-aged population in particular. In 2012, it is estimated that the primary school-aged population (for a seven-year cycle) represented 17.8 percent of the total population, a figure which reflects the weight of the demographic constraint in the management of national education policy. The relatively high HIV/AIDS prevalence (14.9 percent, against an African average of 5.3 percent) highlights a second constraint to consider. The country is at the bottom of the Human Development Index (HDI) ranking, placed 172nd out of 187 countries.

Demographic and Macroeconomic Context (2012) GDP per Capita (US$) 714 Total Population (‘000) 13,724 % of the Population of Primary School Age 17.8 % of Out-of-School Children of Primary School Age NA HIV&AIDS Prevalence (15-49 years) 14.9% HDI (Ranking) 172/187

Key EFA Indicators for 2012 or Most Recent Year

Zimbabwe’s African EFA Development Index was 84.4 in 2000. This figure, well above the Sub- Saharan African average (39.3) reflects a very favorable initial context. However, unlike in most other African countries, the most recent available data show that the value of this index has receded over the period, to reach 76.2 in 2006. This declining African EFA Development Index (EDI) value is not particularly recent but was nevertheless SSA well above the African average. Max (91) The available data for Zimbabwe do not make it easy Zimba- to take stock of the different dimensions of EFA. This bwe (76) SSA is the case of the preprimary GER (Goal 1), whose (57) evolution is unknown. It is also the case of the primary completion rate (Goal 2), which is only known to have dropped from 89.2 percent in 2001 to 80.0 percent in SSA Min 2003. Given the absence of recent data, it is very (8) difficult to gage the country’s capacity to meet the universal primary completion goal by 2015. In terms

of gender parity (Goal 5), Zimbabwe was already in a situation of virtual equality in 2000, with a parity index of 96.9. By 2006 parity was achieved, with an index of 99 percent. The share of literate individuals aged 15 years and above (Goal 4) has undergone a slight drop, from 89.5 percent in 2004 to 83.6 percent in 2011. These latter figures are well above the African average (estimated at 67.6 percent), but suggest that the efforts deployed in terms of adult literacy must be consolidated.

No data are available to report on progress towards Goal 3.

Goal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3 Goal 4 Goal 5 Early Childhood Care Universal Primary Learning Needs of All Improving Levels of Gender Parity in and Education Education Youth and Adults Adult Literacy Primary Education Preprimary Primary Completion Lower Secondary Adult Literacy Primary Level Enrollment Rate Rate Completion Rate Rate Gender Parity Index 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 94 100 99 94 100 80 67 84 80 80 80 80 80 68

60 60 60 60 60 55

40 40 40 35 40 40 20

20 20 20 20 24 20 (97) (89) (90) 8 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

Goal 6 Educational Quality Legend

Share of Primary Grade 6 Pupils Achieving the Goals 1 to 5 Minimum Level at SACMEQ Assessment * Zimbabwe (Value for 2000 or close in parenthesis) 100 93 90 Sub-Saharan African Average

80 73 SSA Range (min/max) 70 63 60 Goal 6 63

50 Zimbabwe 38 40 43 Average of SACMEQ Countries (2002–07) 30 Range (min/max) for SACMEQ Countries (2002–07) 20 27

10 8 Note: * At least Level IV (In reading = Reading for meaning, in order to link and interpret 0 information located in different parts of the text; In math = Beginning numeracy, to Reading Math translate verbal or graphical information into simple arithmetic problems and correctly use different arithmetic operations)

Enrollment: Education Pyramids 2012 or Most Recent Year

The available data are insufficiently detailed to elaborate the schooling profile and education pyramids, impeding a finer analysis the evolution of education (access, retention and transition) and equity indicators.

Learning Quality 2012 or Most Recent Year

The information available on education quality (Goal 6) is derived from SACMEQ and shows that the level of pupils’ learning is generally low, particularly in primary. In 2007, close to 37 percent of primary Grade 6 pupils did not master the minimal competences required in reading (Reading for meaning: reads on or reads back in order to link and interpret information located in different parts of the text). The situation was more critical still in math, where in 2007, close to 57 percent of pupils did not acquire the minimal required knowledge (Beginning numeracy: Translates verbal or graphical information into simple arithmetic problems. Uses multiple different arithmetic operations, in the correct order, on whole numbers, fractions and/or decimals).

Education Financing 2012 or Most Recent Year

Sub-Saharan African Minimum Sub-Saharan African Average

Zimbabwe Sub-Saharan African Maximum

Resource Mobilization, 2010 Distribution of Education Budget, 2010

18 10 Primary 53 44 Government 45 65 Revenue as % 11 of GDP 20 Secondary 66 26 (incl. TVET) 30 55

7 Educ. Current 8 21 Higher Educ. 20 Exp. as % of 14 Government 47 Current 22 0 Expenditure 41 Other Levels 5 24

It can be noted that the observed performance has been achieved in a context of significant national resource mobilization, although accompanied by a relatively weak budget priority for the education sector. Indeed, the country has gradually increased its internal revenue collection rate (domestic resources have indeed increased from 26.7 percent of GDP in 2000 to 45.0 percent of GDP in 2005), a situation which is not unrelated to the difficult economic context that the country has been through. However, only 14.1 percent of public recurrent expenditure was devoted to education in 2010. This figure is well below the Sub-Saharan African average (estimated at 22 percent), but when applied to a significant level of public resources, means that the overall financing of education (as a share of GDP) is generally higher than the African average.

On the sectoral distribution of resources front, the primary level benefits from the greatest share of education spending (53.2 percent in 2010). This allocation level is well above the African average (44.0 percent) and tends to characterize countries that are not yet approaching universal primary education. The secondary level accounts for 25.8 percent of recurrent education resources in 2010. Higher education receives a relative allocation of 21.0 percent of recurrent education expenditure.

Education Policy Parameters 2012 or Most Recent Year

The scant available information relating to education policy does not allow providing explanations for the results achieved by Zimbabwe in terms of the EFA goals.

Sub-Saharan African Minimum Sub-Saharan African Average

Zimbabwe Sub-Saharan African Maximum

Pupil-Teacher Ratio in Public Schools Public Teachers’ Average Salary (% of GDPpc)

13 0.8 Primary Primary 3.4 44 88 7.1

13 1.3 Lower Lower Secondary 35 Secondary 62 4.8 11.6

7 1.3 Upper Upper Secondary 26 Secondary 5.9 48 11.6

% of Current Spending Other than Teachers’ Salaries Percentage of Repeaters

12.6 1.0 Primary Primary 24.4 12.6 65.8 40.4

6.4 0.3 Lower Lower 26.2 Secondary Secondary 13.4 63.5 26.0

19.9 0.5 Upper Upper Secondary 31.8 Secondary 13.3 66.0 29.7

% of Pupils in Private Schools Public Cost per Student (% of GDP pc, Cur. Exp.)

4 Primary 0.5 11 38 Primary 14.0 6 54.2 Secondary (incl. TVET) 24 75 0.4 Lower Secondary 20.2 57.3 16 TVET 0.5 161 Upper 612 Secondary 27.5 18 80.4 Higher Educatio 179 n 2147