Last week the social media was inundated with results of the sons and daughters of the rich and famous in Zimbabwe who had sat for the Cambridge Ordinary Level examinations last year as their mothers and fathers brandished their chains of As.
NewsDay Editorial
But despite our own Zimsec and education system rated as one of the best in Africa, the Ordinary Level results released this week paint a sorry picture. Statistics from Zimsec director Esau Nhandara show that only 31 767 pupils attained passes in five subjects out of 172 698 who sat for the public examinations. This translates to a mere 18,4%, down from last year’s 19,5%.
While many, including Education minister David Coltart cannot celebrate this poor showing, a lot needs to be done to restore the education sector to its glory days on the continent and beyond.
Questions are being asked as to what is contributing to this downward trend in the sector and some have tried to sneak in lack of resources as the major reason.
The government has been accused of not taking the education of its people seriously hence the paltry 18,4% pass rate we are witnessing.
Unicef has tried to assist by providing textbooks and other necessities, but results on the ground are far from impressive. Central government needs to do more to promote education in the country.
No doubt the education sector has been on a recovery post dollarisation, but more can still be done to return the country to the high standards that we had become accustomed to in the 1980s.
With an adult literacy rate of over 90%, which is among the highest in Africa, Zimbabwe can surely do more for its bright students who, given a chance, have gone beyond borders to prove their mettle. Reviving the sector will need enormous financial, material and human resources.
The country is yet to fully recover from the massive brain drain of qualified teachers and measures should be put in place to lure them back. In this regard, the recruitment freeze placed by the government does not help matters.
What we see and deduce from the current crop of teachers is that they are a disgruntled lot who now opt to work with the elite few who can pay for extra lessons and other incentives.
This crop has replaced the teachers we had become accustomed to. Those who could do something to make sure the pass rate, even at the poorest of schools, showed improvement should be given a chance to do so.
If the government is serious about transforming the education sector and justifying why they rate Zimbabwe as the giant in African education, it is time to take funding seriously and equip teachers with necessary skills and remuneration to motivate them to do more.
Until then, ordinary Zimbabweans will resort to celebrating the sons and daughters of the rich and famous who have abandoned their own Zimsec and opted for foreign education.
