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Education Still a Priority in Zimbabwe

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 21 Feb 2012   |   

A couple of years ago, President Robert Mugabe made a startling revelation: when the new black government he led took over in 1980, there was only one civil servant with a university degree.

This was the situation coming from the supremacist Rhodesian regime led by Ian Smith.

President Mugabe himself was coming in with seven degrees and almost all his ministers had a degree or two apiece.

Yet they could count themselves lucky, having achieved this feat against all odds; obtaining these degrees, via correspondence (sometimes while in colonial jails) or having won scholarships to study abroad.

Locally, “good” education for blacks was being provided by missionaries and precious little, if anything, by the Smith regime.

So, the academic achiever and teacher undertook to do one of the tasks hallmarking his career as the leader of Zimbabwe: education.

Today, Zimbabwe is ranked as the most literate nation in Africa (97 percent) by the United Nations and there are countless graduates in the civil service and the private sector.

At independence, there were around 2 000 primary schools and just over 200 secondary schools in the whole country.

There was only one government boarding high school for blacks.

This was a result of the “bottle-necking” system in which black students were constricted from progressing academically and professionally.

Education segregation was such that the majority blacks would end up as unskilled or semi-skilled labour, or employed in fields such as carpentry and agriculture. Whites and a few blacks took up sciences and business.

The uneducated blacks would provide cheap labour for the white settler economy. A robust investment in education from primary schools right to tertiary institutions since 1980 has seen the literacy rate soar and the country exports skills to countries all over the world. Primary schools have since been increased to above 6 000 while there is a corresponding number of secondary schools.

“Upper Top” (and old F2) schools are being upgraded to high school status and offer Advanced Level schooling.

There are countless vocational training institutions, polytechnics, teacher training colleges, and universities.

It is the government’s policy that each of Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces hosts its own state university while private institutions have been allowed to flourish. Mugabe spearheaded the policy that every child in Zimbabwe must have at least basic education.

• Read complete article at Southern times Africa

African Culture Promoted Through Books in Canada

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 13 Jul 2011   |   

Many North Americans have a skewed vision of Africa, says local Zimbabwean artist and graphic designer Jacqui Terry. She is on a mission to correct that image for the sake of Canadians who will benefit from the rich cultural traditions of the Southern African nations and for her fellow immigrants from Africa, especially the children whose growth into healthy, contributing adults relies on a positive self image and a strong connection with their heritage.

Terry earned her BA in Fine Arts at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and worked in Botswana before moving to southern Ontario five years ago. Terry has a deep appreciation of the arts and traditions of these countries. Quoting the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Terry states that “Africa is the most linguistically diverse continent in the world. People speak close to 2,000 different languages which is a third of the world’s linguistic heritage.”

If the languages are lost, so too is the culture and this concerns her, as does the negative portrayal of Africa by North American media as a continent perpetually in need. Terry asserts, “There is a deep well of cultural richness and wisdom that Africa has to offer Canadians.” Bridging the gap in vision between the North American media-version of Africa and the Africa she knows and loves will benefit the children of African immigrants, those with African heritage and those with a connection to the continent and who feel the need to connect with these traditions, as well as the broader Canadian community.

This was Terry’s motive for working on the book project with author Selu Mdlalose of Vezani Publsihing. “How Zebby the Zebra Lost His Stripes” is the first of a series for children. “Zebby” tells a story of identity lost and found; a theme Terry believes resonates with all children, but especially those growing up in a culture different from their family’s place of origin.

“Zebby” is available in English as well as, Shona and IsiNdebele, and Setswana. This makes “Zebby” an excellent teaching tool for Southern African parents who want to nurture their children’s connection to their culture of origin. Venancia Nyandoro of Kitchener in Canada says that “Zebby” is “a great resource for our kids to learn Shona and Ndebele. It’s an exciting story and they want to read it over and over again. The pictures make them laugh, and they really enjoy reading the Shona story even though they don’t understand all the words, but it is amazing how quickly they learn them!”

• Read complete article at the Zimbabwean

Zimbabwe's Young Readers Face Wear and Tear

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 27 Jan 2011   |   

Zimbabwean professionals are regarded highly not only in Africa but the world over.

Though the country went through a decade of economic meltdown, its literacy rate remains high.
The achievements can be attributed to the educational structures at the grassroots.

In a way, teachers and education institutions played a pivotal role in achieving the great strides, and their efforts have over the years been aided by the country’s public libraries, especially those run by municipalities.

However, a visit to some Harare public libraries revealed that these facilities have been neglected and can do with an urgent facelift.

The libraries, like any other public facilities, have been abandoned, windows are broken and in most cases the toilets are in a sorry state.

Books hang precariously on the disjointed shelves gathering dust. The books have suffered wear and tear, with most of them missing pages or having torn covers.

Some of the academic textbooks have become irrelevant and have since been replaced by latest editions and the authorities are failing to restock.

Glen Norah Library used to be full house with students from all schools in the high-density suburb jostling for space.

• Read complete article at Newsday

Children's Book About Zimbabwe Wins Costa Award

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 19 Jan 2011   |   

LONDON (Reuters) – A children’s story about a British boy who encounters racism and bullying in the classroom after emigrating to Zimbabwe in the early 1980s was among the Costa Book Award winners announced on Tuesday.

“Out of Shadows,” set during Robert Mugabe’s early years in power, is Jason Wallace’s first novel, and is based in part on his own experiences as a child when he moved to Zimbabwe with his family at the age of 12.

“For us, this extraordinary debut novel was a unanimous winner,” the panel of judges said in a statement. “This compelling portrayal of a nation in crisis gripped us from start to finish and has stayed with us since.”

Out of Shadows was one of five category winners at the annual book awards, which honour writers based in the UK and Ireland.

Each category winner receives 5,000 pounds ($8,000) and has a chance to claim the overall Costa Book of the Year Award worth a further 30,000 pounds. It will be announced in London on January 25.

Kishwar Desai picked up the first novel award for “Witness the Night,” centring around social worker Simran Singh’s investigation into the murders of 13 people.

The judges praised Desai for having “fearlessly blown the lid on the problems that simmer under the surface of modern-day India.”

• Read complete article

Book details

• Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace
  Book homepage
  EAN: 9781849390484
  Find this book with BOOK Finder!

Boost for Zimbabwe's Education Sector Results in More Text Books for 2011

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 13 Jan 2011   |   

When Zimbabwe schools re-open Tuesday, younger scholars will find they have text books for the first time in many years. A record 13 million text books are being delivered to Zimbabwe’s primary schools.

Education minister David Coltart said the massive text-book order, a record for Zimbabwe, was made possible by donations, mainly from Scandinavian countries and Germany. The contract for printing the books was carried out in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Coltart said in 2011 he will invite tenders for text books for five core subjects in secondary schools. He says the books will be distributed in 2012.

There are more than 7,000 schools in Zimbabwe, and Coltart says many of them have dilapidated infrastructure. He praised Finance Minister Tendai Biti who awarded the education sector 34 percent of the recent national budget, the highest percentage for any sector.

• Read the complete article at voanews

Zimbabwe's Child Parliamentarians Want to be Taken Seriously

by Nonikiwe - Editor on 18 Nov 2010   |   

KADOMA – Zimbabwe’s child parliamentarians now want to be taken seriously and not just as ceremonial stooges.

Speaking to journalists in Kadoma at a UNICEF, Tererai Nyazika spoke eloquently about the need to educate children as they were the future of the country. “The future of the nation depends on how it treats its young. We raise some very important issues and we would like the government to take us seriously,” said young Nyazika.

Indeed in a country that boasts the highest literacy rate in Africa, it should be worrying to children like Tererai that their generation could be illiterate as the right to education now exists only on paper. Every day children are being expelled from school and thousands do not go to school at all. It’s a generation that has seen the gains of post independent Zimbabwe gradually reversed through a vicious dictatorship determined to cling to power no matter the cost.

The GNU introduced the Basic Education Assistant Module (BEAM) and managed to put at 600 000 orphaned and vulnerable children on BEAM against a target of one million. But despite these efforts, many children are failing to access education amid concerns by those who really need assistance that the facility has been hijacked by Zanu (PF) through the biased composition of the selection committees.

However, UNICEF said the current set-up was the best under the present conditions. “The selection of children who are vulnerable and are thus eligible to be assisted is done at community level by community selection committees. “These committees are put in place by the general community members and they maintain a register of vulnerable children from which they select those to benefit from BEAM – depending on the funds available. Those in authority including politicians do not form part of such committees,” says UNICEF.

“The government should find solution to the problems that we are facing so as to ensure that children enjoy their rights. Children in rural areas are not being taken seriously by the government,” said Nyazika.

• Read the complete article at The Zimbabwean

Zimbabwean Education Minister Unconvinced By 92 Percent Literacy Rate Claim

by Bontle on 06 Oct 2010   |   

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart says Zimbabweans must not mislead themselves into believing that the country has the highest literacy levels in Africa. In the recent United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) study, Zimbabwe overtook Tunisia as the country with the highest literacy rate on the continent at 92%.

Colltart said the UNDP relied on figures showing attendance at school for the first four years of formal education as indicators of literacy rates but the Grade VII results will be a more accurate indicator for Zimbabwe.

He gave an example of a recent survey among Grade V pupils in Manicaland which showed that there were “alarmingly low” rates of literacy.

Coltart said most of the pupils in the survey did not have Grade V literacy levels but had Grade I and II levels, a scenario he said most likely applied to all provinces in this country.

“Our education system is in a crisis and we need to do a lot of work to restore the quality of education for our children's sake,” he said.

• Read the complete article

UN Gives 13 Million Books to Zimbabwean Learners

by Bontle on 13 Sep 2010   |   

The UN Children’s Fund on Wednesday launched a scheme to provide 13 million textbooks to Zimbabwe’s students, in a 50-million-dollar effort to revive the struggling school system.

Zimbabwe’s schools were once among the best in Africa, but a decade of economic and political crisis saw teachers fleeing classrooms that had few books or other supplies.

“More than 13 million textbooks have been procured and from today, will be distributed to the 5,500 primary schools,” Peter Salama, UNICEF country representative said.

The books are expected to be distributed by the end of September, Salama said, in a programme financed by foreign aid.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said at the launch of the programme that his unity government with long-ruling would restore schools to their former glory.

He said the government was committed “to provide social protection for the poor and the most vulnerable and the restoration of the education sector to its previous glory”.

• Read the complete article at Hostednews

Boy vs Girl Author Talks About her New Book and Writing for Teens

by Bontle on 21 Jul 2010   |   

Na’ima B. Robert is a South African Muslim woman and writer. She’s descended from the Scottish Highlanders on her father’s side and the Zulu people on her mother’s side and grew up in Zimbabwe. Coming from a rich and mixed background lead her to be interested in culture and the perceptions of Islam and Muslim culture.

Her new book, Boy vs Girl was inspired when Robert became interested in “seeing the double standards between how boys are raised and how girls are raised, for example, boys going out at night and no one questioning them as to where they’re going and with whom, whereas with girls, they need to have a chaperone.” In an interview with Robert, she talks candidly about writing for young people and the challenges of being a young Muslim in a modern world.