Backyard schools: A sign of government neglect

Zimbabwe Independent

5 August 2011

By Wongai Zhangazha

AS the cold wind blows continuously across the small rooms without window panes or doors, discomfort is written all over the faces of the youngsters.

While the ideal thing to do would be to position oneself in some corner of the room there are very limited options.

The floor is bare, cold and dusty, and the walls are not plastered. The pupils have no alternative but to sit on hard benches supported by bricks. This is not a juvenile prison but one of the many backyard schools that have mushroomed around the country.

Lighthouse College, a primary and secondary school situated in a 300 square metre yard in Dzivarasekwa, is one such example.

While schools are expected to have spacious classrooms with playgrounds and ablution facilities, Lighthouse College is the exact opposite.

Squeezed in a corner of a house under construction with no toilet facilities, no playground, no administration offices, no library and no uniform, nothing at all resembles a school environment at this place.

As they wait for school to start, the pupils wait outside the gate basking in the sun.

Backyard schools are mushrooming in many of Harare’s high density suburbs taking advantage of the government’s failure to deliver on its education obligation due to a struggling economy and a lack of political will.

The situation has become so common that even the government has conveniently abdicated its responsibilities by turning a blind eye to this increasing dereliction. The quality of education these mainly underprivileged youngsters receive at these schools is worrying and if the government continues to turn a blind eye, the country could soon be plunged into mass illiteracy in the not too distant future.

Based on the present nosedive in the country’s once solid education system, the situation is likely to get worse. According to official statistics contained in the 2011 national budget statement, less than 20% Ordinary level candidates obtained a pass in 2009 and only 50% of the registered students managed to sit for the 2009 examinations.

Statistics show that eight percent of school dropouts are children aged between six and 17 years.

About 26% of primary school classrooms are in need of repairs, 555 primary and 399 secondary schools have no desks, and worse still, 24% of the country’s teachers are unqualified.

At this rate, Zimbabwe’s once glowing literacy rate could be relegated to the country’s history dustbin.

Lack of government commitment to social services was exposed when Finance minister Tendai Biti presented his midterm fiscal policy review statement last week.

Foreign travel expenditure far outstrips high-priority capital projects, such as education and health.

Government spent about US$30 million on foreign travel compared to US$500 000 spent on education.

Basic Education and Assessment Module and student support received less than US$5 million.

The lack of a well-defined education environment and financial support has resulted in the springing up of sub-standard educational and training institutions countrywide.

Biti at one time bemoaned the emergence of “backyard” educational institutions, which he said were compromising the quality of the country’s education system.

In terms of the Education Act of 2006, individuals should not establish and maintain a school unless it is registered.

A Tynwald South parent, Emilia Sibanda, said she opted for backyard schools thinking it was a better option, but she now regrets sending her children to Lighthouse.

“My children were learning at a council school, but I could not afford the incentives that were demanded by the teacher of US$1 per day. It meant that I had to pay US$10 at the end of the week for my children on top of the US$35 fees per term.

“But Lighthouse has been the worst school ever and I regret sending my children there,” said Sibanda.  “It was a waste of money. They are just people who want to make money. The children did not learn last term because they were always shifted from one house to the other because they were not paying rent,” said Sibanda.

The owner of the house at which Lighthouse operates said she was left with no choice but to fire the “school officials”.

“The headmaster had no experience whatsoever and there were no qualified teachers. The school was being run worse than a school in the rural areas. I felt that I was not doing justice to the children and decided not to associate myself with these people. Imagine in the room that is the dining room, there would be about three grades learning in one room. One teacher has to shout to each grade to listen attentively while others are quiet as she gives them work. She then shouts that the other grade must listen while they are also given the work. That’s the confusion children have to go through. I wonder why parents send their children to such schools,” Sibanda said.

They didn’t learn anything and spent most of the time out of school because the so-called school authorities were not paying their rent.

“They just didn’t know how to handle the children and how can children have geography lessons in Shona? It’s pathetic,” she said.

Educationalist Godfrey Museka said the backyard schools were producing raw children who would face difficulties when they entered higher education facilities.

“People have generally lost faith in public education including the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council,” said Museka.

“Parents have resorted to sending their children to private schools thinking that it is the best option where they can be taught without any disturbances like teachers going on strike and so forth.

“However, most of these backyard schools are not registered and most of the teachers are unqualified. The end product is raw kids who know nothing. They are not properly prepared for any higher education. Government must immediately do something about this,” he said.

Education minister David Coltart said his ministry had recently procured 59 vehicles that were going to be used by district educational officials to monitor and curb indiscipline and illegal schools operations which have crept into the country’s education system.

“These unregistered schools have been a problem for some time and one of the main problems has been the inability on government’s part to monitor the situation on the ground to check if they are registered and operating within the country’s laws,” said Coltart.

“We have 73 district offices in the country and the vehicles we have acquired will enable us to closely monitor schools. Those schools operating illegally will be shut down in due course.”

Coltart revealed that it was impossible for a school operating from a rented house to have basic facilities expected of a formal school.

He said applications for accreditation of schools involved a bureaucratic process and thorough inspections had to be carried out on all premises earmarked for housing a school.

“Anyone applying for a licence to operate a school has to go through the provincial education director. There are certain building regulations that they must satisfy us with and a lot of inspections are done in terms of the health and safety of the children and other basic standards expected of a school. If the building does not comply, the application would be rejected,” said Coltart.