Blame quality of teaching in Zimbabwe

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN: A letter from the diaspora

By Pauline Henson

It is depressing to hear yet again the dismally low pass rate in the Zimsec exams. The truth is that ever since Zimsec was introduced in 2003 the pass rate has never been higher than 25%.

Now we hear that in 2012, 81% of Zimbabwe’s state school students failed their Zimsec exams. We are not told how the private schools performed though young Chatunga’s truancy exploits from the exclusive St Georges College were widely reported!

‘Education is in crisis,’ admitted the Education Minister and went on to list some of the factors contributing to the crisis: shortage of teachers, shortage of text books and shortage of investment in the education sector which consistently receives less in the annual budget than defence.

The Minister went on to relate how some 20.000 teachers had left the profession in 2008 when there was a mass exodus of teachers from the country. A breakdown of the exam results for 2012 shows that the pass rate for Shona was 18% while there was a 20% pass rate for English and a mere 13% for maths.

For a country that once boasted of one of the best educated populations in Africa, this is a sad reflection on the current state of affairs. Perhaps it tells us that youngsters – or their parents – are no longer as passionate about getting a good education as they once were but I very much doubt that.

As a former teacher-trainer in Zimbabwe, I think that we must put the blame for this sad situation where it belongs and that is with the quality of the teaching.

The Minister of Education says nothing about the vital subject of teacher training but it is in the training colleges that trainee teachers are inculcated with the moral and social values of their profession.

Admission to these institutions has of recent years been overly influenced by political considerations, instead of the candidate’s suitability for the profession which should be the prime consideration. As a consequence, the profession has been weakened and demoralised.

From being one of the most respected members in the community, the teacher has become nothing more than an easy target, blamed for everything that goes wrong in society. Zimbabwe is not alone in this change in attitudes towards the teaching profession, it is the same in the so-called developed world.

In Zimbabwe, teachers themselves are often poorly educated with inadequate knowledge of their subjects. As an example of this, the 13% pass rate in Shona indicates that it is not enough to be a born Shona speaker; language teaching requires training and a deep knowledge of the technical aspects of the language.

In the matter of the curriculum, Zimbabwe suffers from a colonial hangover which values academic subjects over and above practical subjects which lead to manual jobs.

Again, this is no different from the western world where a plumber, even though he may earn high wages and possess much-valued skills, is considered lower down the social scale than a ‘white collar’ worker.

As a result of this colonial mindset, students who would be much better suited to practical subjects are pushed through the academic machine and emerge ill equipped for life in the world of work.

These latest Zimsec exam results demonstrate very clearly that state education is indeed in crisis and is failing our children. Too often, the teaching profession is the last resort for youngsters who can think of nothing else to do.

To quote Bernard Shaw: “He who can, does. He who cannot teaches.” In a country with 80-90% unemployment this may be a sad reality but it does not make for highly qualified and motivated teachers. Without a well-educated populace, democracy is the loser.

Yours in the (continuing) struggle, Pauline Henson