Dear Friends,
The long term impact of the neglect of the education system cannot be under-estimated and will impede Zimbabwe's ability to revive and develop. Adult literacy rates are still estimated at over 90%, but this may plummet to 70% by 2020 if completion rate and quality do not rise or 2nd chance education programmes be offered to youth who have left the school system. Due to the macro economic pressures that are currently obtaining in the country, parents are struggling to pay fees/levies for their children in schools. According to a new report, http://www.theafricareport.com/Southern-Africa/zimbabwes-education-sector-in-crisis.html, the dropout rate was 43 percent higher than the previous year. Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), meant to assist children from poor families with school fees, is failing to cope with the increasing demand. The report gives the dropout figures as 2,289 for secondary and 2,784 for primary of which 52% at secondary and 40% at primary level were females.
Currently the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has been working on a new curriculum whose zero draft has been now a centre of discussion. Besides the discussions on the new curriculum there are also various issues that have been discussed within the Education sector which include the construction of over 2,500 new schools in newly resettled areas so as to increase access to education for all children, training and deployment of qualified early childhood development teachers to schools that have established the required early childhood development classes and increasing awareness and knowledge on the importance of inclusive education and ensuring that children with special education needs are catered for at all times. Organisations that work to promote the education of girls have also been advocating for strategies that promote the retention of students in school especially girls.
Early Childhood Development
Early childhood education was introduced after independence in 1980 through the National Early Childhood Development (NECD) program which was aimed primarily at pre-school children in rural areas who had never had access to these services. A community development approach underpinned the roll out of the ECD centres. With limited focus on minimum criteria, and lack of capacity at community level to make significant contributions, the standard of facilities and activities varied substantially. There now has been a great improvement in the provision of ECD services in the country through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education that has made it a priority for resource provision such as deployment of qualified ECD teachers as well as training programs for teachers and parents through the structures.
In 2004, a national review of the education system recommended that ECD be integrated into education structures rather than running parallel to them. A national survey conducted in 2007 indicated that 95 per cent of primary schools had ECD facilities, but among 5,059 preschools surveyed, 61 per cent did not have buildings. MoESAC now estimate that most primary schools (97%) do have some kind of ECD provisions but facilities and resources, especially teachers and associated costs remains a major challenge. By 2015 Zimbabwe seeks to offer two years of ECD education in all primary schools and increase enrolment so that 90% of 5 year old children attend, currently only 48% of 5 year olds do. Concern has been raised over (i) the acute shortage of qualified ECD teachers (a play centred methodology is used which differs from the standard primary school pedagogic approach) and (ii) parental costs, given the high prevailing poverty rates and absence of free or low cost services.
Most schools have no classrooms for the ECD children. The number of children in each class was too large failing to meet the recommended teacher-pupils ratio of 1:20. In most provinces it was found that there was a critical shorted of trained teachers with ECD qualifications. Overall, the ECD A and B classes are being manned by untrained staff (para-professionals) a practice which militates against attainment of quality education. Most primary schools visited lacked age appropriate toilets, WASH facilities and furniture for the 3-5 year old children, play equipment for outdoor area, toys and indoor learning materials. On health and nutrition the analysis revealed that many ECD centres in primary schools did not give children food at school and in some cases the children had no food. Some of the children were infested with soil transmitted helminthiasis [STH) and schistosomiasis (SCH) worm-parasites which affect the growth and development of children.
Conclusion
More still needs to be done to revive the education sector in the country. Financial resources need to be strategically deployed to ensure that students in the country have access to great educational opportunities. At Nhaka Foundation we advocate for equal learning opportunities for all children. We strive to ensure that children have access to education facilities, great teaching as well as quality, holistic programming that supports the total development of a child.
Patrick Makokoro
This is very true we strive to avail equal opportunities to all children but its very difficult to achieve with our current economic situation as resources to upgrade rural schools to match the urban schools in order to give equality has proved to be a big challenge. In as far as teacher training for ECD is concerned i think there has been really a considerable effort evidenced by the huge enrollment of such courses at tertiary institutions. We still look forward to improvements
ReplyDeleteThat is very true, though funding of teacher training activities is not at the required proportions we hope we will be able to continue making engagements with partners to get funding in place to support these initiatives.
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