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'.