Speech given at the Education World Forum, London
By David Coltart
11 January 2012Â
Introduction
Zimbabwe was recognised in the past as having arguably the best education system in Africa. A sound curriculum for black Zimbabweans was developed in the 1950s prior to the destructive Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) period. The post-independence period from 1980 saw rapid expansion. Literacy rates were the highest in Africa. Indeed, in 2012 the UNDP held that they were still the highest, although their figures were based on questionable access and attendance criteria.
In the last two decades, however, funding in real terms has dropped precipitously. This situation has been compounded by political trauma in the last decade, including hyper-inflation and the targeting of teachers who were perceived as being political. The result was that 20,000 teachers left the profession in 2007 and 2008.
February 2009
When I came to office in February 2009 the education system was in crisis. Eight thousand schools were closed and 90,000 teachers were on strike. Public exams had not been marked, textbook to pupil ratios had fallen to an average of 1:15, physical infrastructure was collapsing. The destruction of the Zimbabwe Dollar meant there was no money available. Donors were sceptical about the political process. There were no functioning Education Management and Information Systems (EMIS), no internet and no accurate data since 2006.
Obviously very few countries get into this state, and to that extent this example may not be very relevant save for being a reminder of the necessity not to get a country into this state. But what have we done since February 2009?
Stabilisation
As a Government we agreed that all civil servants would start on the same salary of US$ 100 per month. That included me as Minister! We then had to enter into dialogue with the Trade Unions to bring an end to endemic strikes. We offered an amnesty to teachers who had left the profession during the difficult period, allowing them to return to work. We started an extensive consultation process, involving unions, parents, children and NGOs regarding what was needed to stabilise and resuscitate the sector. In July 2010 I launched a short-term strategic plan, which has now been developed into a five year plan.
The key elements of the five year plan are as follows.
Firstly, to restore the professional status of teachers. We have in the last 3 years increased teachers’ salaries from US$100 to $300 at entry level. In March 2009 I launched a new National Educational Advisory board to advise on matters pertaining to the improvement of primary and secondary education in Zimbabwe, and we have plans to establish a Professional Teacher Council to administer the welfare of the teachers and improve their professional conduct. We have asked for the introduction of a rural allowance to encourage good teachers to work in the rural areas.
The wider benefits of our efforts to restore the professional status of teachers can already be seen reflected in the 2011 school results. These indicate a stabilisation of the sector owing to minimal disruption from strikes.
Secondly, to improve conditions in the classroom. There has been a major problem of lack of materials, especially textbooks. The Education Transition Fund was set up in September 2009 as a means of channelling donor money to address these issues. The ETF is chaired by me but managed by UNICEF, with membership restricted to donor countries. The results have been encouraging; in 2011 15 million textbooks were delivered to primary schools restoring the pupil to textbook ratio to 1:1 in core subjects. Secondary schools are set to receive 8 million textbooks this year, which will also result in a pupil to textbook ratio of 1:1 in core subjects.
The impact of the primary textbook programme can already be seen in the 2011 Grade 7 results. These had plummeted in recent years but have now been stabilised and in 2011 started to improve.
Thirdly, we need to improve the quality of education. This will involve an extensive curriculum review, something that has not taken place in Zimbabwe since 1986. An extensive and exhaustive process is underway to bring the curriculum up to date and we are looking at introducing Civic Education, where students will learn about issues of democracy and human rights. Furthermore, we need to move from a heavily academic curriculum to one which includes more vocational education. We are working on a plan to use podcast technology, which I hope will enable us to leap frog years of a dearth of computers in schools.
Investments in the Examination Authority are also necessary in order to improve the quality of education. We have plans to introduce a new computer marking system that will make our examination system financially viable
Fourthly, governance issues need to be addressed. With the breakdown of systems lawlessness has crept in. New regulations are in the process of being introduced with a focus on the rights of children, incorporating international covenants. We are also seizing the opportunity to grant increased autonomy to parents with a deliberate policy to encourage them to take a more active role.
Finally, we plan to place a greater focus on marginalised children. Zimbabwe has some very good independent and mission schools and we have granted them more autonomy. Our focus is on Government and local council schools but thee is a vast gulf between these two broad sets of schools. I have been concerned that our talented disadvantaged children are not being adequately served by the government education system. To address this, we are in the process of establishing Academies, also known as Centres of Excellence. These will be rehabilitated Government schools which will be bound to reserve 40 per cent of their intake for talented disadvantaged children, who will receive full scholarships. In this manner I hope to reduce the gulf between government and private schools.
Overall results
The overall results can already be seen. The schools are now open and student to textbook ratios are now acceptable. But we still face enormous problems. The Ministry is operating on a shoestring budget. Our budget last year was US$ 14.8 million, which works out at less than US$5 per child per annum. Were it not for the passion of children, parents and teachers the system would have collapsed.
We remain in crisis. The ETF has worked but is woefully inadequate. The main responsibility for this of course lies with the Zimbabwe Government. We need to move from rhetoric to action and make education a priority. However, we also need the international community to assist. Under the direction of Carol Bellamy, the Global Partnership for Education has been granted US$2 billion to support the education systems of 46 countries worldwide. If one compares this to the billions spent in Iraq and Afghanistan, or on the retention of nuclear weapons, however, one sees a misguided order of priorities in the international community.
The best way to promote world peace is through educating the world’s poor; through giving them hope. There is a need for a radical review of the developed world’s funding priorities if we are to make significant improvements to the world’s education systems.