Zimbabwe's Education 1980-2000: Why Success Turned into Crisis

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that there was a phenomenal
expansion in educational provision introduced by the new government in
Zimbabwe in the years after Independence (1980) It is also increasingly
acknowledged in later years, that the system has had problems providing an
equitable, affordable and accessible education system to meet the demands
of the population in the country. It is found that more than 80 per cent of the
students fail at the "0" level exams. Empirical studies in 1993-95 and 1999
have found a mismatch among the aims, goals, contents, methods and
examination procedures of the educational system and the students' social
and cultural preconditions. The country seems to be stuck in a triple trap,
caught simultaneously in three socio-cultural realities; 'the historic liberalist
socializing legacy', the progressivist education rhetoric legacy' and 'the
economic globalization reality'.