Report on functional literacy: the case of Zimbabwe …unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001569/156918eo.pdf · entertained my intrusion and provided priceless documentation for the

COOPERATIVE ACTION STRATEGIES IN BASIC EDUCATION (CASE) AFRICA PROJECT

Report on

Curriculum Relevance:

The Case of Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production (ZEMFEP)

Prepared by A . B . Mashingaidze

U N E S C O Sub-regional Office for Southern Africa

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of U N E S C O concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Copyright U N E S C O 1997

Editing by C.J. Nyandoro Printed by Visual Publications (Pvt) Ltd in Harare

Published by UNESCO Sub-Regional Office for Southern Africa P.O. BoxHG 435, Harare, Zimbabwe

The Case of Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production

Contents

Abbreviations iii

Acknowledgements iv

Executive summary v

Chapter 1: Introduction , 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Objectives of the Study 1

Chapter 2: Methodology . 3 2.1 Data Collection 3 2.2 Limitations of the Study 4

Chapter 3: The Socio-Economic and Education System in Zimbabwe 5 3.1 Socio-Economic System 5 3.2 Education System - Historical Perspective 5 3.3 Basic Education Provision in Zimbabwe 6 3.4 Problems in Basic Education Provision 8

Chapter 4: Description of Specific Key Areas .' 10 4.1 Curriculum Relevance to the World of W o r k and the World of Today

in Zimbabwe 10

Chapter 5: Analysis of the Zimfep E W P Project 15 5.1 Origins of the Zimfep's Concept of E W P 15 5.2 Philosophical Underpinnings and Objectives of E W P 15 5.3 Main Activities of the Zimfep E W P Project ^ 18 5.4 Project Organisation and Management 18 5.5 Zimfep E W P Project in Context 21

Chapter 6: Findings of the In-Depth Study 25

Chapter 7: Lessons Learned 29

References - 32

Appendix 1: Zimbabwe Teachers by Qualification: Primary 34 Appendix 2: Zimbabwe Teachers by Qualification: Secondary 35 Appendix 3: Structure of Z I M F E P 36


List of Tables

Table 1: General Information on Schools, Enrolment and Teachers 7 Table 2: Enrolment Statues, Percentage of Children Ages 5-17 9 Table 3: Structure of Pass Rates in Zimbabwe - School System for Students W h o

Sat ' O ' Level 10 Table 4: Zimbabwe Secondary School: Transition Rate (1993- 1994) 10 Table 5: Tertiary Education Intakes in the First Year 1994 12 Table 6: Number of Pupils Doing " O " Level Technical Subjects: July 1993 13 Table 7: Number of Pupils Doing " A " Level Technical Subjects: July 1993 13 Table 8: Z I M F E P Schools Enrolment and Distribution in Zimbabwe 18 Table 9: Source of Funds for Z I M F E P 20


Abbreviations

CASE CCODP CDU CIES ECEC ESAP EWP GDP HIVOS NFC NGO PU SIDA UNESCO USAID ZIMFEP ZINCO ZJC

Cooperative Action Strategies in Basic Education

Canadian Catholic Organisation for Development and Peace

Curriculum Development Unit

Centro Informazione e Educazione alle Sviluppo.

Early Childhood Education and Care

Economic Structural Adjustment Programme Education with Production Gross Domestic Product Humanistic Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries National Foundation Certificate Non-Governmental Organisation Production Unit Swedish International Development Authority United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation United States Agency for International Development Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production Zimbabwe Investment Cooperation Zimbabwe Junior Certificate

iii

-V if


Acknowledgements

This study would not have been completed without the assistance rendered by a number of people in the Ministry of Education, the Zimfep Directorate and the Zimfep pilot schools (Rusununguko and Mavudzi) visited during the course of the study. I would like to express m y appreciation for the candid and open discussions that I had with the Deputy Secretary (Schools Division), Deputy Chief Education Officer in-charge of Vocational/Technical Education, the two officers in-charge of the Schools-on-the-Shop-Floor Programme and all the officers in-charge of technical vocational education of Curriculum Development Unit. I would also like to thank Zimfep for being persuaded that the study was a worthwhile endeavour worth their support which they selflessly gave in the form Qf interviews and supporting documents. For this, I would single out the Director (Mr Nyengera), the Deputy Director (Dr Nhundu), and the Coordinator in charge of the Education Division (Mr Mtobi), for bearing with m e while I foraged for information. The Deputy Headmaster at Rusunguko Secondary School, the Headmaster at Mavudzi Secondary School, the teachers of vocational/technical subjects, and pupils at these schools took time to discuss with m e and fill in questionnaires and helped to shape the impressions I have recorded in the study. M y contact person at the Ministry of Education, M s Rukanda, made all the necessary contacts and appointments; she was invaluable in ¿opening doors to people w h o would not have normal entertained m y intrusion and provided priceless documentation for the study. M s van der Laan from the Harare U N E S C O Office provided some documents necessary for the study. Lastly, I a m deeply indebted to m y secretary, Regina, w h o is consummate professional and for w h o m anything is possible on a computer.

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Executive Summary

Chapter 1. Introduction

The Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production (Zimfep) was formed as a N o n -Governmental Organization ( N G O ) with a mandate to infuse the concept of Education with Production ( E W P ) into the Zimbabwean school curriculum. T o set the scene for what this executive summary contains, it is necessary to review the objectives of this study as derived from the C A S E (Cooperative Action Strategies in Basic Education) A F R I C A Project terms of reference which are as follows;

1) T o contextualise the Zimfep E W P project by describing the education and socio

economic system in Zimbabwe in which the project operates;

2) T o describe the Zimfep E W P project objectives activities, scope, target group and

any other relevant aspects regarding the implementation of this project;

3) T o describe the Zimfep E W P project organisation and management;

4) T o evaluate the successes and failures of the Zimfep E W P project to achieve the

objectives it set for itself;

5) T o generally showcase the Zimfep E W P project as a unique curriculum innovation

experiment aimed at increasing the relevance of the curriculum in schools to the

world of work and the world of today.

Chapter 2 . Methodology

The case study research methodology which incorporated document review, interviews with a

purposive sample of key informants and site visits for two Zimfep pilot schools was the main data

gathering methodology used in this study. The internal validity of the study was jealously guarded

by the use of multiple data sources for the information presented and the conclusion recorded in

this study. However, the scope of the study was limited by the financial resources available to the

researcher to gather data.

Chapter 3. Description of the Socio-Economic and Education System

Zimbabwe's economy is supported by mining, agriculture, and tourism which contribute the

largest share to Gross Domestic Product ( G D P ) . However, agriculture is the major activity of the

majority of Zimbabwe's population w h o reside in communal areas. The colonial land tenure

policies created the communal areas in the arid parts of Zimbabwe where soils are generally sandy

and deficient in mineral nutrients. The majority of the inhabitants of communal areas are,

therefore, resource poor and have been the target of the post independence Zimbabwean

government development efforts as a strategy to reverse the imbalances that had been created by

successive discriminative colonial governments before independence. Education was seen by the

post independence government as the main enabling tool for development in these areas and in

other sectors of Zimbabwe, hence the massive expansion in primary and secondary education in

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Z i m b a b w e from 1980 onwards. Z imbabwe has consistently allocated the highest proportion of G D P to education. Enrolment in primary and secondary schools from 1979 to 1992 rose from 800 000 to 2,4 million and 66 000 to 688 000, respectively. The number of primary schools increased from 2 400 to 4 500 while the number of secondary schools increased from 177 to 1 500 during the same period.

However , the massive investment m a d e in education cannot be sustained. A drop in real terms, in allocations to education has been recorded over the past few years, fuelled by inflation and the prescriptions of Economic Structural Adjustment ( E S A P ) . Other problems include the fact that a smaller proportion of resources are allocated to technical/vocational education than to academic subjects. This has an impact on curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today. The majority of school leavers therefore leave the school system without any skills relevant to the labour market. The technicalisation/ vocationalisation policy enshrined in the N e w Structure and Content of Education policy of 1986 was designed to address this problem.

Chapter 4 . Description of Specific Key Area Curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today is low in Z i m b a b w e but efforts are being made to reverse this state of affairs as indicated above. The current educational scenario is characterized by automatic promotion up to Form IV and the inevitable high failure rates in the 'O-level' examinations and high attrition rates (drop out rates), as m u c h as 50% by F o r m IV. The external efficiency of the education system is also low. Very few of products of the schools are absorbed by the tertiary education institutions for further education or employed, leading to high rates of school leaver unemployment. This has shown that the academic curriculum formerly pursued in Zimbabwean schools was not relevant to the world of work and the world of today, hence the technicalisation/vocationalisation policy enacted by the Z i m b a b w e Government in 1986. However , questions are being raised on the capacity of the Zimbabwean economy to support wholesale equipping of schools so that they can effectively pursue technical/vocational programmes.

Chapter 5. Analysis of the Zimfep E W P Project T h e Zimfep E W P Project originated from the experiences gained in trying to educate refugee children during the war of liberation in Mozambique, Botswana and Zambia. There are three central elements which form the philosophical rationale of the Zimfep E W P concept. These are the economic, the pedagogical and the socio-political components. E W P , as conceptualized by Zimfep, is based on the socialist principles of equality, cooperation, social responsibility and respect for h u m a n dignity. This economic rationale for E W P is found in the quest by E W P to conduct commercially-viable activities at schools. Such activities provide an opportunity for skills training and make the school self reliant. Central to this, is the process of helping students develop entrepreneurial skills through Production Unit activities which will enable the students start businesses w h e n they leave school. Pedagogically, the Zimfep E W P concept emphasises the marrying of practical and theory based on the premise that all subjects can be presented practically to students. Zimfep is a donor-funded organisation with four divisions: Education, Operations, School Leavers Job Creation, and Administration and Finance. Above these is a Directorate which is supervised by a Management Committee; the Board of Directors is the policy making body. A patron at the top of the of the structure garners support for the organisation.

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Chapter 6. Findings of the In-Depth Study Zimfep made a significant contribution to the changes in policy in education which ushered in technicalisation/vocationalisation as described in the N e w Structure and Content of Education Policy of 1986. This has meant that a sizeable proportion of schools in Zimbabwe have been equipped through donor and government funds to teach technical and vocational subjects. The equipping process is continuing, albeit at a reduced pace because of cumbersome procurement procedures for equipment and dwindling resources, in real terms, at the disposal of Government. The lack of clear channels of h o w Zimfep influences curriculum in Zimbabwe has been a major stumbling block in its quest to infuse E W P into the Zimbabwean school curriculum. The lack of clearly designated ways in which Zimfep was to relate to the Ministry of Education in general and to the Curriculum Development Unit in particular has meant that most of the E W P related syllabuses it has developed have not been accepted for national use. However, the Associate Membership Programme where schools interested in E W P become registered associates of Zimfep has had a moderate measure of success in spreading the concept throughout the country. Lack of resources to galvanise the necessary support for the E W P concept and keep the m o m e n t u m going in the converted schools is seriously hampering Zimfep efforts to disseminate E W P throughout the country. It was apparent that the top down approach taken to spread this concept was partly responsible for some of the resistance to its implementation. Further, the historical subjugation of the indigenous African population to menial tasks by the colonialists has created a stigma for technical/vocational related subjects in parents and pupils. Zimfep needs to destigmatise these subjects before they gain widespread acceptance in competition with purely academic subjects.

Chapter 7 . lessons Learned The lessons learnt from this in-depth study include:

1) The need for clear channels of h o w Zimfep was going to influence the curriculum should have been established at the inception of the project without merely relying on the force and convictions of personalities at the top of the Ministry of Education and Culture at independence;

2) The is need for a bottom-up approach for successful implementation. What is clear in this project is that some officials in the Ministry of Education feel that it was imposed by people coming from the war without having convinced the educators w h o were supposed to implement it and the clientele (parents and pupils) w h o would benefit from the project of its utility;

3) Government has not come out clearly on whether or not E W P is the cornerstone of educational policy in Zimbabwe and this has left Zimfep's position on shaky foundations;

4) Technical/vocational education as espoused by the N e w Content and Structure and Content of Education'document of 1986 is an expensive option which will take years to effectively implement in Zimbabwe. M a n y observers point out that the targeting of market relevant vocational/technical skills together with entrepreneurial skills as espoused by Zimfep m a y be a more viable solution which will have a positive effect on the current school leaver unemployment problems.

vii


Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Background The Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production (ZIMFEP) is a unique curriculum development innovation which has its roots in Zimbabwe's war of liberation in Zimbabwe which ended in 1980 when a new nationalist majority government swept into power. The introduction of what is n o w known as Education with Production ( E W P ) started with attempts to solve some of the more pressing problems in the refugee camps in Mozambique and Zambia such as shortages of food and accommodation (Nhundu and Mashingaidze, 1992).

Production was integrated into die lessons with students building their o w n barracks and classrooms, making their desks and benches, growing their o w n vegetables, digging pit latrines and being generally responsible for their c a m p welfare (Zimfep, 1991).

The E W P concept was carried over to the post independence era and led to the formation of Zimfep in 1981 as an non-governmental organisation ( N G O ) . Zimfep was formed in order to experiment with the concept of E W P in eight farm-based pilot schools (and later a vocational college). The experiment had the full support of the then Minister of Education (Mutumbuka, 1984: pp 89-90) w h o stated:

W e could not m a k e major changes on national scale without a preparatory phase of experimentation and planning. Before w e launch a new system, a lot of spadework must be done. W e need to draw up an entirely n e w curriculum, to write n e w textbooks, to train a n e w type of teacher and to convince parents and Ministry officials to accept changes.

Zimfep is die instrument that can do that spadework. It has the flexibility and the freedom to try out n e w things and to m a k e recommendations to Ministry based on the experiments it is conducting in eight pilot schools throughout the country. These schools are laboratories for change where new ideas can be tested. W e are not starting from scratch since w e have already established a more solid foundation in the liberation schools that were set up during the struggle.

1.2 Objectives of the Study This study is designed as a case study to carry out an in-depth independent analysis of the Zimfep E W P experiences for the C A S E (Cooperative Action Strategies in Basic Education) Africa Project. The aim of the case study is to "study processes and products" of the Zimfep E W P project and to "assess the lessons that could be learned" from the Project ( C A S E Africa Project Terms of Reference, 1995). The specific objectives of the study as derived from the specified activities in the terms of reference document are thus:

1) T o contextualise the Zimfep E W P project by describing the education and socioeconomic system in Zimbabwe in which the project operates;

2) T o describe the Zimfep E W P project objectives and the philosophical underpinnings of these objectives. Further, to describe the activities derived from these objectives, the target group, the scope of the project and any other relevant facets with regards to the implementation of the project;

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3) T o describe the Zimfep E W P Project organisation and management;

4) T o evaluate the successes and failures of the Zimfep E W P Project to achieve objectives which it set for itself;

5) T o derive lessons from Zimfep experiences in implementing the E W P Project in Zimbabwe so mat they can be useful to other projects in education; and

6) T o generally showcase the Zimfep E W P Project as a unique curriculum innovation experiment whose main objective is to align the school curriculum to the world of work and the world of today.

The above objectives of the study are multi-directional and therefore require the use of a number of data gathering techniques to answer the questions which emanate from the objectives.

2


Chapter 2: Methodology

2.1 Data Collection This study belongs to the case study paradigm. A technical definition of a case study has been developed by Yin (1981). A case study is an empirical inquiry that:

1) investigates a contemporary phenomenon (in this case the Zimfep E W P project) within its real life context when

2) the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident and in which 3) multiple sources of evidence are used.

In this study, the Zimfep E W P project as a curriculum innovation tool aimed at increasing curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today is studied, described, analysed and evaluated.

B y their nature, the case study data gathering methodologies are eclectic and this study was no exception. Annual reports of Zimfep and the Ministry of Education, evaluation reports of Zimfep programmes, newsletters and policy documents were consulted to build up the multiple realities of the Zimfep E W P project and its relation to the Ministry of Education. Interviews were conducted with key personnel at Zimfep including the Director, the Deputy Director and the Coordinator of the Education division w h o provided wide knowledge on the structures, philosophy, functions, problems and future plans of the Zimfep ESP project. Interviews were also carried out with a Deputy Secretary of Education (Schools Division), Deputy Chief Education Officer in charge of vocational/technical subjects, officers in charge of project funds, officers in charge of the Schools-on-the-Shopfloor programme and officers in the Curriculum Development Unit ( C D U ) in the Ministry of Education to identify current policies and practices in basic education, the ministry's relationship with Zimfep and the relationship of current ministry polices and practices to curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today.

A representative of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and member of the Business Education Partnership Agency with Education was also interviewed and provided the industry and commerce perspective on relationship between education and government and industry and the implications of this relationship to curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today.

Site visits were made to two Zimfep pilot schools (Mavudzi and Rusununguko) to inspect the realities of implementation of the concept of E W P at the two schools. Interviews were conducted with the heads of the schools, a sample of Form 3 and Form 4 school children and teachers of technical/vocational subjects to record their perceptions in various issues regarding the utility of the Zimfep philosophy of E W P to curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today. These interviews also provided the author with opportunity to validate by triangulation information provided by the Zimfep Secretariat on the practices and implementation of E W P at schools with what was happening at the schools.

3

The Caso, of Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production

Questionnaires were left at each of two schools for F o r m 4 students and teachers of technical subjects to record their feelings on E W P and its relationship to the world of work and the world of today. Questionnaires were also distributed to the C D U personnel. The questionnaires attempted to measure their attitudes towards Zimfep, E W P and the'curriculum development process in Z imbabwe .

2.2 Limitations of the Study

Case study methodology, like ethnography, tends to use immersion. It requires the researcher to collect virtually all the data, interpret, analyse and recast the issues and questions as the data collection unfolds (Anderson, 1990). The resources available to carry out this study were inadequate for the researcher to be adequately immersed in the data gathering process and investigate all the emerging issues to their natural conclusions. The limited amount of resources available to the researcher for operational expenses to carry out this case study limited the Zimfep pilot schools visited to only two out of eight. The schools visited hardly constitute a representative sample of the Zimfep pilot schools because they are found in one region of the country. It was not possible to travel to the other regions because the budget did not allow it. The remuneration paid to the researcher to carry out this study was not an incentive to the immersion investigative approach required to do justice to this type of work. Therefore, the study was limited in scope and depth by the resources available to the researcher. The questionnaire return rate from the schools and C D U was less than 10%. Therefore, the results were summarised together with the impressions recorded for interviews.

However , within these limitations, the study used multiple data sources to interpret converging lines of evidence from which conclusions were drawn. Therefore, it can be argued, that the study has internal validity, because it incorporates multiple pathways of evidence triangulating to the stated conclusions. External validity, the extent to which generalisations can be m a d e from this study, should not be an issue in the study because the study deals with a unique curriculum innovation experiment not generally found elsewhere. Case studies provide a platform of experiences from which w e learn and then apply the lessons learnt to similar or related projects. It is, therefore, the researchers' view that the limitations of the study do not detract from its internal validity and its utility as a case study of a unique curriculum development innovation to align the school curriculum to the world of work and the world of today.

The author takes responsibility for any errors of perception and interpretation found in this study because, by its nature, the study required the author to perceive and interpret lines of evidence from a number of sources. It is possible, in an exercise like this one, to interpret issues from a different perspective compared to other parties with interest or no interest in the Zimfep E W P project.

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Chapter 3: Socio-Economic and Education Systems in Zimbabwe

3.1 Socio-Economic System Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in Southern Africa with a population of 12,5 million. The

country relies primarily on agriculture, mining, tourism and manufacturing activities to contribute

to the Gross Domestic Product ( G D P ) . Minerals and mineral-related industries products such as steel, ferro-chrome and coal account for some 40% of Zimbabwe's export earnings. There are

more than 40 different minerals mined in Zimbabwe, the most significant being gold, ferro-

chrome, nickel, asbestos, iron, copper, coal and platinum. (Zimbabwe Government, 1990). The

agricultural sector of the country is dominated by maize, cotton, tobacco, beef and dairy

production. Zimbabwe had always been self sufficient in food production and has exported a

surplus grain, fibre and oilseed crops and beef to neighbouring countries. However, recently,

because of recurrent droughts, Zimbabwe has been in a food deficit situation prompting large-scale

food distribution to feed the population in the rural areas. 70-80% of Zimbabwe's population

resides in the communal areas which are found in Natural Regions III to V . These areas are

characterised by poor soils and erratic low rainfall which make inhabitants generally resource

poor. The rising population pressure in these areas has led to overgrazing and erosion and

generally low per capita incomes. The resettlement programme launched at independence has

managed to relocate only 1,4 million people. This has made no significant dent in ameliorating

the overcrowding and its associated problems in the communal areas. The massive increases in

primary and secondary education financed by government from 1980 onward were generally

focused in these areas which had suffered years of neglect from successive colonial governments.

Support in the form of extension and research targeted at the small scale farmers in communal

areas has increased their share of crops produced from these areas and they are n o w the largest

producers of maize and cotton in Zimbabwe. (Zimbabwe Government, 1990).

3.2 Education System - Historical Perspective In Zimbabwe, basic education includes early childhood education and care ( E C E C ) (below 6 years

of age), primary school (6 -13 years age group) and the first two years of secondary education

(14-16 years age group). The current educational policies in Zimbabwe cannot be understood

without some reference to the past. Before the attainment of independence (1980), there was a

dual education system in place. One system, with an abundance of resources, was geared towards

the education of the European elite to the highest standards possible. The other system, for

Africans, was underfunded and was designed to produce a perpetual underclass of people w h o

would provide labour to European enterprises. This is mirrored in M o y o (undated) quoting from

Mandaza 1986:322:

T h e native should be trained not so m u c h as a competitor with the white m a n in business of life but as a useful auxiliary to help in the progress of the country.

Even where technical/vocational institutions were established, their establishment according to M o y o (undated) quoting from Mandaza (1986:323) was to:

stimulate effort amongst the African people to put purpose into their Uves and to develop such skills in industries that do not offer direct competition to Europeans.

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Therefore the pre-independence education system was dualistic in intent and implementation. The pre-independence socio-political system was also loaded in favour of the minority whites. The land tenure and apportionment legislation of the 1930s and subsequent years directed Africans not actively employed in urban areas to underdeveloped and resource poor Tribal Trust lands (now communal areas). These areas had little or no opportunities for blacks to develop commercial enterprises because of low levels of infra-structural development and poor or non existent opportunities for economic activity. The education for Africans in both urban and rural areas was, therefore, geared to produce workers to serve in the social political and economic system dominated by the minority of whites (Moyo, undated).

The other consideration which has direct relevance to this study on curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today is that the education system conditioned the African populace to value academic education leading to white collar jobs more than technical/vocational education leading to skill related occupations. In 1966, the Education Plan was enacted; this created the F 2 system and academic streams. Academically weak students were channelled to the F 2 schools which taught some practical vocational skills but without a strong theoretical/academic base. The system in academic secondary schools channelled only a very small percentage of very intelligent students through narrowing cardinal points in the system such as from Grade 7 to Form 1. This system placed a premium on academic performance of students because this meant escaping through hatches represented by Grade 7 , Form II, Form IV and F o r m VI to university or horizontally to a white collar occupation. The fact that Africans were generally relegated to menial jobs created a stigma against technical subjects and elevated the status of academic subjects. That orientation is still evident today and typifies some of the reactions recorded in this report to the Zimfep philosophy and practice of E W P .

The educational policies at independence were guided by the Socialist ideology and the reversal of the inconsistencies within the educational legacy left behind by the colonialists. A m o n g the objectives of the post - independence educational policy was the abolition of racial discrimination in all its forms in the educational system and the provision of free and compulsory primary and secondary education for all children regardless of race (Moyo (undated) quoting the Zanu P F Manifesto). Z imbabwe abolished primary school tuition fees at independence in 1980 but these were re- introduced in 1992 as a fiscal measure (World Bank, 1994).

3.3 Basic Education Provision in Z i m b a b w e Zimbabwe allocates the highest proportion of gross domestic product towards education with the highest single budgetary allocation per annum going to the Ministry of Education which is responsible for primary education and secondary education. Zimbabwe has allocated on average 4.75% of G D P to primary education since independence, although today this has fallen to 3^9%. However, the achievements of Zimbabwe in investing in human resource development have been widely acknowledged and Zimbabwe is ranked at or near the top of African nations for most health and educational indicators (World Bank, 1994).

Enrolment in primary education increased from a total of 800 000 children in 1979 to 2,4 million in 1992. The number of primary schools nearly doubled during the same period from 2 400 to

6


over 4 500, with the help of a concerted community effort which assisted with the building of an additional 1 200 schools (World Bank, 1994).

Secondary education experienced a more explosive growth than primary education after independence, with the number of students rising from 66 000 in 1979 to 688 000 in 1992 and the number of secondary schools increasing from 177 to over 1 500, most of these in the rural areas (World Bank, 1994).

Table 1: General Information on Schools, Enrolment and Teachers

Year

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

Schools

3161

3698

3880

3960

4161

4234

4297

4439

4471

4504

4530

4559

4569

4578

4611

4633

Primary

Enrolment

1 235 994

1 715 169

1 907 225

2 044 487

2 231 304

2 216 878

2 265 053

2 251319

2 212 103

2 219 171

2 119 865

2 294 934

2 305 765

2 436 671

2 476 575

2 487 312

Teachers

28 455

37 778

45 467

52 502

54 086

56 619

58 257

57 120

57 762

58 370

60 886

58 436

59 874

60 959

63 085

64 184

Schools

197

694

738

790

1 182

1215

1276

1395

1484

1502

1512

1515

1517

1 518

1521

1536

Secondary

Enrolmeot

74 421

148 690

225 647

316 438

416 413

482 000

537 427

604 652

641005

695 882

672 656

710 619

657 344

635 202

679 416

711 739

Teachers

3 730

4 874

6 033

8808

14 718

17 315

19 487

21981

23 598

24 547

25 484

25 204

25 792

24 058

25 597

26 823

Source: Ministry of Education and Culture (1994 and 1995)

The number of teachers also increased concomitantly with the increase in schools and school enrolment. Primary school teachers increased from over 28 000 to over 64 000 while secondary school teachers increased from 3 730 to 26 823 over the period 1980-1992 (Table 1). The details of the qualifications of the teachers and the number of male and female teachers within each qualification group for primary schools and secondary schools are shown in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 (for 1992). O f the total number of teachers employed by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 1992, 59.12% were male and 40.88% were female for primary school and 66.83% were male and 33.17% were female for secondary school teachers (Ministry of Education and Culture, 1992).

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Early Childhood Education and Care ( E C E C ) to cater for the learning needs and care of pre

school children was practically non-existent in rural Zimbabwe, especially in the communal areas,

before 1980. The E C E C centres were concentrated in urban areas and were being run as private

creches and were mostly found in the so called white areas. A few E C E C centres were found in

the so called African Townships.

This scenario rapidly changed at independence when funds were provided by government and the

donor community to build E C E C centres throughout the country. By the beginning of this year

(1996), there were 2858 rural E C E C centres, staffed by 2146 supervisors and 5648 teachers

(Ministry of Education, 1996), catering for the learning needs of approximately 160 000 children.

Most of the E C E C centres were run as community based projects. Where donor or government

funding was not available, these centres were staffed by volunteers from the community.

Inadequate renumeration for E C E C supervisors and teachers, lack of funds for running and

maintenance of the centres, shortage of transport and human resources are cited as the major

constraints barring the effective implementation of the E C E C programme (Ministry of Education

and Culture, 1992).

3.4 Problems in Basic Education Provision It is expedient that an exploration of the problems and inconsistencies in the provision of basic education in Zimbabwe be attempted in order to provide a backdrop from which the issue of curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today can be analysed. Although Zimbabwe 's achievements in education are among the country's most impressive gains since independence, the country is facing a series of challenges. These challenges include:

1) A drop, in real terms, in resources allocated to primary and secondary education

and hence in quality which m a y threaten the impressive gains registered in this

area. This must be tempered with fact that in nominal terms the budget allocation

to primary and secondary education has been increasing on a yearly basis but at a

rate below the rate of inflation;

2) Resources allocated to education favour urban areas so that the rural areas and farming areas a lag behind in all indicators of education provision and quality. The above scenario has its roots in the history of education in Zimbabwe where the little resources allocated to African Education were allocated in favour of urban areas. The present government has been trying to correct the existing imbalances by allocating larger per capita grants to the poorer rural and farm-schools than to urban schools;

3) Resources are directed more towards academic than technical/vocational/

agricultural training and skills upgrading. This is so despite the yearly allocation

of funds specifically for technical and vocational education to the Ministry of

Education. Apparently these funds represent a very small proportion of the overall

Ministry of Education budget and are not large enough to make a significant

impact;

8


4) T h e vast majority of school leavers leave the school system without significant labour market relevant skills adding to the huge unemployment burden n o w conservatively estimated at 40% of the able-bodied population (World Bank, 1994).

According to the World Bank (1994) there has been a 30% decline in real public expenditure for primary and secondary education over the period 1990 - 1994. A s a result funds for operating the school system have been cut and are being cut dramatically as the belt tightening prescriptions of E S A P are implemented. Supplies such as books, chalk and teaching aids and the Ministry of Education's o w n quality enhancing activities such as supervisory visits and upgrading of teachers are presently falling short of requirements. T o maintain the recommended teacher/student ratio of 1:40, 1:33, 1:30 and 1:20 for primary schools, Forms 1 and 2 , Forms 3 and 4 and Forms L V I and U V I , respectively (Ministry of Education, 1995), the Zimbabwe government spends increasingly more of the Education budget on staff costs and less on operating expenditures. While staff costs were little under 90% of the budget for primary schools ten years ago, this has increased to an average of over 95.5% during the last three years. Despite the focus on staff funding, real wages fell 26% to 38% for teachers over the last three years (1991 - 1994) while starting salaries for new entrants into the teaching profession are 33% and 43% lower than three years ago. This has led to a general bleeding of the teaching service. While there are 6 000 teachers graduating every year from teachers' colleges, about 5 000 teachers resign annually, a high percentage of these being qualified and experienced teachers (World Bank, 1994).

Other problems within the system include a general gender bias in education (Table 3) and a legacy of disproportionate allocation of resources in urban and rural areas, left by the previous colonial government, resulting in different levels of education opportunities and their utilisation (Table 2).

Table 2: Enrolment Status: percentage of children aged 5-17

Socio-economic area Primary School Secondary School Not in School

Communal areas 67% 10% 23% Large scale commercial farms 61% 4% 35% Resettlement/small scale commercial farms 72% 12% 16% Urban areas 63% 24% 13%

Source: World Bank, 1994

9


Chapter 4: Description of Specific Key Area

4.1 Curriculum Relevance to the World of W o r k and the Wor ld of Today in Z i m b a b w e Curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today is the extent to which organised learning experiences in schools prepare pupils to be productive members of the community. In general, the education system in Zimbabwe is geared towards academic education. However, efforts are being made to develop the technical/vocational side of secondary education. The quality of education as indicated by the number of pupils w h o successful pass 5 ' O ' levels (to get an ' O ' level certificate) is rather low (Table 3).

Table 3: Structure of Pass Rates for Students Who Sat V Level in 1992

Number entering 1st grade Percent finishing 7th grade Number in 7th grade Percent transiting to Form 1 Number in Form 1 Percent finishing Form IV Number in Form IV Percent Passing ' 0 ' levels Successful ' O ' level candidates

Boys

205 350 75,1% 158 900 74,0% 110 510 71,3% 80 700 16% 13 000

Girls

203 400 73,4% 146 300 65,2% 90 150 63,5% 57 200 9% 5 150

Total

408 750 74.5% 305 200 65.7% 200 600 68.7% 137 900 13.2% 18 150

Source: Atkinson, etal, 1993

There are low pass rates for both the Zimbabwe Junior Certificate (ZJC) and ' O ' level examinations. In the Z J C exams in 1991, only 6,6% of the 165 000 students w h o sat for the Z J C examinations passed the mathematics test and only 18,1% English. The results are better at ' O ' level; nearly 19% passed English and about 25% passed mathematics and science exams. Wha t is noticeable is that the proportion of girls within the education system declines m u c h more than for boys as the students advance towards Form IV (Table 3). O f the entering class of nearly 409 000 students, only about 18 000 graduated with their ' O ' levels, under 4 .5% for the whole group and only 2,5% of those girls w h o entered school 11 years earlier. These passing figures are a bit inflated because they include those that were repeating. The statistics become a bit more frightening when one looks at student performance at individual schools and discovers that a substantial proportion of secondary schools are not able to pass a single candidate with the requisite 5 ' O ' levels. Perhaps 50% of the schools pass less than 5 % of their entering class, the problem being more serious in rural secondary schools (World Bank, 1994). However, the problem of low pass rates is partially a result of the automatic promotion of students to the next level throughout the primary and secondary system regardless of their performance. This generally occurs up to Form IV, although parents sometimes insist on their children repeating a class if they feel that they will not cope with the next class. This means that academically inept students w h o are automatically promoted swell the ranks of those w h o fail to pass externally set examinations at Grade 7 , F o r m II and Form IV. It is pertinent to note that in most countries only 25 % of the student population of any age cohort are deemed capable of attempting the ' O ' level examinations or their equivalent. 10


There are increasing numbers of educational practitioners in Z i m b a b w e w h o are questioning the cost effectiveness of the automatic promotion system as currently applied in Z i m b a b w e . Channelling of students according to ability as reflected in the Re-Introduction of-'A' Level Technical High School Policy Proposal document (Ministry of Education and Culture, 1986), is being advocated. This document states that Forms 1 ?.nd II pupils will be expected to do at least two technical/vocational subjects in addition to five academic subjects but at Forms III and IV, pupils will be channelled to follow either and academic stream or a technical/vocational stream depending on their aptitude and interest. Those students w h o have pursued the technical/vocational streams would not be denied entry into A-level, as they can do one technical subject out of the three ' A ' level subjects.

This policy initiative has not been officially adopted, although a few schools are implementing it. It has the potential to substantially increase curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today by channelling a proportion of pupils to do more technical/vocational subjects. There are obvious implementation difficulties of this policy in Z i m b a b w e because most parents and pupils prefer an academic curriculum and m a y resist channelling into technical/vocational streams.

T h e internal efficiency of the Z i m b a b w e education system is low, with the transition rates generally showing that 26% of the boys and 34.8% of the girls age cohort of students w h o sat ' O ' levels in 1992 had dropped out by the time they transited from Grade 7 to F o r m 1 (Table 4). T h e 1993 -1994 transition rate in secondary schools from Form 1 to Form IV show that the from F o r m 1 to Form IV drop out rate was 22.99% and 30.20% for 1993 and 1994 respectively. Additively, it means that of the total age cohort of students w h o started Grade 1 together, approximately 50% had dropped out by the time they reached F o r m IV. These statistics point to a greater need to provide school children with life long income enhancing skills and survival skills for the non formal employment sector because most of them cannot get formal employment nor can they proceed to tertiary education institutions because these require at least five ' O ' level passes.

Table 4: Zimbabwe Secondary School: Transition Rate (1993 -1994)

Year

1993 1994

Form I

174 208 201 412

Formn

160 547 165 829

Formm

149 944 151 481

FormlV

134 158 140 589

Source: Ministry of Education and Culture (1994)

The drop out rates indicated above must be viewed in the context that for persons to be employed in the formal sector or to get a place in the tertiary institutions, they must have passed 5 ' O ' levels subjects and in most cases mathematics, English and science should be included in the five subjects. The biggest problem with the current education system is its low external efficiency. (Moyo , undated). This is because of the majority of school leavers have no chance of proceeding to technical/vocational institutions or universities nor do they get employed. (Table 5, next page)

11


Table 5: Tertiary Education Intakes in the First Year 1994

Institution N o .

Universities Teacher Education Technical/Agricultural Colleges Zimfep (Mupfure) Catholic (Vocational Training Centre) Total

of 1st year students

2 346 6 744 7 067

68 35

16 266

Source: Moyo (undated)

O f the 141 694 ' O ' and ' A ' level graduates in 1993, only 16 240 were absorbed for further training. This figure represents only 16% of this population ( M o y o , undated). The demand for vocational/technical and university training is seen in the very intense competition for places at these institutions. The Zimbabwe education system releases more than 120 00 academically trained students into the job market with the economy able to absorb only about a quarter of this population (30 000) into formal employment.

The scenario portrayed above brought about a policy shift and in 1986 the government adopted a n e w policy called the ' N e w Structure and Content of Education'. This policy initiative was designed to link education with employment opportunities so that employment is seen as the net result of successful education. The broad aims of technical/vocational education are:

1) T o fulfil human resource requirements for economic development and the social requirement for employment;

2) T o provide broader educational opportunities for an increasing proportion of the population.

As a result of this policy shift, students are n o w required to do two technical/vocational subjects at Z J C (form 1 and II) and one or two technical/vocational subject at ' O ' level (Form II and III). The technical/vocational subjects are generally allocated six periods (40 minutes duration) per week for three terms of 10 weeks duration. The technical/vocational policy is implemented in 1 518 secondary schools nationally, and they are 13 technical subjects on offer up to ' O ' level (Moyo undated). (See Table 6, next page.)

12


Table 6: Number of Pupils Doing V Level Technical Subjects: July 1993

Technical subject

Agriculture Building Studies Fashion and Fabrics Food and Nutrition Food Science H o m e Management Metal Work Technical Graphics Wood Work Typing Computers Commerce and Accounts Art and Craft

N o . of pupils

38 810 4 109

11623 4 328 3 240

40 2 753 1572 4 732

226 225

24 138 760

N o . of schools

948 292 661 187 164

2 113 89

220 29 14 19 19

Source: Moyo (undated) Very few ' A ' level schools offer technical/vocational subjects (Table 7 ) .

Table 7: Number of Pupils doing 'A ' Level Technical Subjects: July 1993

Technical subjects

Art and Craft Dress and Textiles Food Science Metahvork Technical Graphics

N o . of pupils

38 810 4 109

11623 4 328 3 240

N o . of schools

948 292 661 187 164

Source: Moyo (undated)

Other technical/vocational training courses in the formal education system include the National Foundation Certificate ( N F C ) courses designed by the Ministry of Higher Education but run in the schools. According to M o y o (undated) only 25 secondary schools have about 259 students engaged in N F C courses. All Zimfep pilot schools run these vocational courses in addition to ' O ' level technical subjects.

The technical/vocational education policy is trying to address the lack of relevance of the academic oriented curriculum, currently taught for the largest part of school time and in most schools, to the world of work and the world of today. However, the technical/vocational education initiative is bedeviled by a number of problems. Increasingly questions are being asked whether technicalisation and vocationalisation is not too expensive an option to align the products of Zimbabwe's schooling system to the world of work and the world of today. D o technical/vocational subjects taught at secondary schools prepare students adequately for entry into formal and non-formal employment? Are the skills imparted in schools in practical/technical subjects relevant to market demand driven jobs and skill requirements? There are very strong arguments which seem to suggest that technicalisation and vocationalisation of education in

13

The Case oflimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production

Zimbabwe is too expensive an option because it requires a massive and costly exercise of furnishing schools with the necessary equipment and it can be implemented in only a few schools. The impact of this programme in aligning the education system to the production of students with world of work and general survival skills is being compromised by the lack of resources to invest into the technicalisation/vocationalisation programme. Investment in equipment of schools is proceeding very slowly because of lack of money and cumbersome tender procedures required by all government departments, including the Ministry of Education, to purchase equipment for schools. The government annual grant for technical/vocational education has been dwindling in nominal and real terms as result of donor fatigue and a lack of resources available to government (Ministry of Education official, 1996; pers. c o m m . ) .

14


Chapter 5: Analysis of the Zimfep E W P Project

5.1 Origins of Zimfep's Concept of E W P As indicated in the introduction the concept of Education with Production ( E W P ) took root in the refugee camps in Mozambique, Botswana and Zambia during Zimbabwe's war of liberation. The introduction of E W P started as attempts to solve some of the pressing problems in the refugee schools such as shortages of food, accommodation, clothing, furniture and reading materials (Mtobi, undated). In criticising the colonial education system in Rhodesia, Dzingai Mutumbuka w h o was to become the first Minister of Education and Culture in the new independent government of Zimbabwe said:

There is little relationship between what is learnt in school and real life problems. A yawning gap separates theoretical knowledge from its practical application (Zimfep, 1991).

From the experiences in the refugee camps, Zimfep was set up as a non governmental organisation to experiment with the concept of E W P at eight farm-based pilot schools in 1981. These schools initially catered for the educational needs of returning refugee pupils but later provided education to the general population of school children in the hinterlands and from distant parts of the country. At policy level the government of Zimbabwe accepted E W P as the new education system for Zimbabwe but thrust Zimfep into the role of experimenting and perfecting E W P before widespread adoption by the rest of the schools in the country.

5.2 Philosophical Underpinnings and Objectives of E W P Nhundu and Chivore (1993) identified three elements of E W P as forming its philosophical rationale. These were the economic, pedagogical and socio-political. The justification for E W P lies in its economic, pedagogical and socio-political contribution to the development of society and the individual. According to Zimfep(1991) the ideological foundation of E W P was found in socialism which the liberation movements ( Z A N U P F and Z A P U PF) had adopted during the war of liberation.

In developing a concept of education during the liberation struggle, our resources were our concrete experiences as well as socialist theories. Comrade M u t u m b u k a aptly expressed it during the struggle as follows "we are learning from our o w n experiences and the experience of Father Socialism". (Zimfep 1991:9).

The major socio-political goals of Zimfep's E W P experiments were encapsulated by Nhundu and Chivore, 1993 as:

1) the promotion of collective activities and establishment of co-operative projects at schools;

2) the creation of a new mentality wherein learners are conscientised to appreciate manual labour, understand the production process and develop the learners into worker intellectuals;

15


3) the promotion of socialist values such as equality, respect for h u m a n dignity, cooperation, social responsibility, self reliance, respect for creative labour and collective development; and

4) the integration of schools and local communities.

Therefore, the objectives of the Zimfep's E W P project in Zimbabwe must be understood in their historical and political ideological context. E W P was seen as a "key tenet of socialist pedagogy and was for us the exact remedy to the maladies of capitalism". (Zimfep, 1991:10).

In Z i m b a b w e , the introduction of E W P had a financial motive as well. All experimental (pilot) schools were located on large commercial farms which were expected to run as commercial entities and the bulk of the profits reinvested in the school with a view of making the school self reliant (Mutumbuka, 1982).

T h e other economic goal of E W P in the pilot school was to equip students with industrial and agricultural producer cooperative skills mat would enhance the job opportunities of school leavers. These economic goals of E W P were to be attained through the setting up of Production Units (PUs) within the school, where students were involved in all the processes of production of a product from market research, planning, production, selling, accounting and dividend declaration. A n important aspect of the economic rationale for E W P is that students will develop entrepreneurial skills so that when they leave school they can use the skills learnt in practical subjects to start small businesses or micro-enterprises. The concept of utilising P U s to prepare students for the world of work requires the involvement of students in vocational and practical subjects and in large-scale commercial farm operations. At their inception, the emphasis on practical/vocational subjects, distinguished Zimfep schools from most other schools in Zimbabwe.

E W P also had a pedagogical rationale from which it derived its justification:

A n education that links theory and practice brings up young people w h o not only have theory but can relate it to their daily practicalities of life in society (Zimfep 1991: 9).

Therefore one of the cardinal facets of E W P is the integration of theory and practice based on the premise that in every practical subject there is theory and that every theoretical subject has practical applications (Nhundu and Chivore, 1993). The integration of theory and practice demands changes in pedagogical approaches so that at every turn in the teaching and learning process, greater emphasis is placed on application in all subjects. Matiza (1994) a former director of Zimfep put it thus:

Students must learn theoretically so that they can better produce practically and produce practically so that they can better learn theoretically. There should be no division between the mental/theoretical learning and manual/productive learning.

The pedagogical objectives of Zimfep are interlinked with its socio-economic rationale. While the inculcation of entrepreneurial survival practical skills has an economic dimension, it is a pedagogical end in itself. It is the absence of the development of entrepreneurial skills as

16


objectives of education in technical/vocational education which distinguishes E W P from them. Zimfep believes that imparting of practical skills must have a definite impact o n the target students. T h e end product of the Zimfep E W P must not just have practical/technical skills but b e c o m e skilled business people w h o can fit into formal employment or b e c o m e owners or production themselves:

E W P aims to producing whole human beings who can be employed and produce quality goods and services or can be self-employed and maintain üie same standards as other industries. (Matiza, 1994).

Included in this pedagogical rationale for E W P is "the positive attitudes building," of E W P (Matiza, 1994). T h e products of the Zimfep E W P programmes should have a high degree of self confidence and motivation imbued through their P U s , practical/technical training, and socialist cooperative ideology.

This, as far as Zimfep is concerned, should be a point of departure from the other systems of education which produce graduates educated only to the point of being suitable for commercial and industrial exploitation by the better educated and the owners of the m e a n s of production. E W P is therefore conceptualised as a solution to the rampant unemployment and retrenchments characteristic of the Z i m b a b w e a n e c o n o m y under E S A P . A s Matiza (1994) puts it:

W e want to produce graduates itching to own the means of production through self employment ventures.

F r o m the philosophical basis of E W P , Zimfep has distilled a working definition of E W P as a:

a gradual, continuous, dynamic and conscientisation process for communicating and imparting values, attitudes, skills and knowledge to people who become acceptable to industry and commerce or engage in productive activities, thereby creating employment for their personal survival (Zimfep, 1991).

T h u s , the current objectives of Zimfep are as follows:

1) T o research and publish innovative curriculum materials focusing on Education with Production ( E W P ) with a view to influencing the national educational policy;

2) T o assist school leavers and graduates of the Production Unit programme in setting up viable self-employment ventures;

3) T o promote the linking of the school and community through community based education programmes which consist of setting up of income generating projects;

4) T o rehabilitate the disadvantaged and marginalised members of society;

5) T o promote cultural activities in support of national cultural values through drama and theatre (Mudzonga and M o y o , 1994).

17


5.3 M a i n Activities of the Zimfep E W P project The Zimfep E W P Projects is based at eight pilot schools which have a total enrolment of more than five thousand students. (Table 8)

Table 8: Zimfep Schools Enrolment and Distribution in Zimbabwe

Region

Matebeleland South Matabeleland North

Midlands

Mashonaland Central

Mashonaland East Mashonaland West

Manicaland

N a m e of School

George Silundika Fátima J.Z. M o y o Nkululeko Sec. Nkulukelo Pri. Chindunduma Sec. Chindunduma Pri. Rusununguko Mupfiire Techn. & Vocational School Mavudzi

Enrolment 1994

564 800 684 656 -840 300 793 134

1054

Cumulative Enrolment 1991-1993

1680 1650 1848 1820 -1620 -1680 718

1850

Source: Mudzonga and Moyo, 1994

The schools were set up to practice education with production under the guidance of Zimfep. The

schools were built by the students and some of the furniture in the school was made by students

during practicáis and P U activities. However, because of the lack of a formal relationship between

Ministry of Education (Curriculum Development Unit) and Zimfep, the development of innovative

curriculum materials in Zimfep has not had a tremendous effect on Zimbabwe's curriculum.

5.4 Project Organisation and M a n a g e m e n t The organisation structure of Zimfep is as shown in Appendix 3. The patron of the organisation

is Professor Canaan Banana, the former President of Zimbabwe. The Board of Directors which

is the policy- making body for Zimfep has consisted of 7 - 1 4 members, w h o are prominent

members of society with an interest in E W P . The Management Committee is responsible for

managing the whole Zimfep unit through advising and supervising the Directorate. Under the

Directorate, there are four divisions and a regional office. Independent of these is an internal audit

unit. The functions of these divisions can be deduced from their stated aims in the 1994 Zimfep

annual report.

a) Education Division. Main aims of this division are:

1) to consolidate and promote the concept of E W P through curriculum

experimentation which integrates academic and practical subjects and introduces

productive income generating projects in schools and other institutions of learning

for self sustenance;

2) to integrate the schools with the local communities by providing community based

education and training programmes in the spirit and practice of self reliance and

mutual self support, cooperation and collective self-management;

18


3) to engage in the process of conscientisation by promoting a national culture that reflects our goals through programmes of research and publications, running workshops and seminars in drama and theatre, and using these in creating viable self-employment ventures;

4) to spread the concept of E W P nationally by encouraging and assisting associate membership in Zimfep, supporting small productive projects in m e m b e r schools and institutions, by sharing our specialist services and educational materials and other experiences with them and by organising seminars nationwide; and

5) to network and cooperate with other N G O s and government in promoting the national adoption of E W P .

b) School Leavers Job Creation Division. The stated aims of this division are: 1) to create employment for school leavers through setting up models that can be

replicated country-wide; 2) to develop income generating projects for small and medium scale businesses; 3) to enhance entrepreneurial and technical skills of project members through its

training and consultancy service; 4) to promote an understanding of ecological friendly farming methods and

environment conservation; and 5) to network and cooperate with other N G O s and government in areas of

employment creation and training of multipliers.

c) Administration of Finance Division. The aims of this division are: 1) to develop administrative and financial management capacity at all Zimfep projects; 2) to help strengthen the government and donor funds support network for Zimfep's

activities in piloting the E W P concept; 3) to support Zimfep income generating projects and promote self sufficiency in

funding; 4) to facilitate human resources development in Zimfep.

d) Operations Division: This division is responsible for all farming activities at the pilot school farms through supervision of farm managers, coordination, training, financial management, monitoring and evaluations of farm based projects (1991, Zimfep Annual Report). However , the operations division has h o w been converted to a Zimfep wholly owned company called Zimfep investment Cooperation ( Z I N C O ) which will manage all commercial operations of Zimfep. The company n o w operates outside the control of the Zimfep Directorate.

The four Divisions of Zimfep, therefore, translate their stated objectives into activities under the direction of the Directorate and the Management Committee. Coordination meetings are held regularly to ensure that the divisions act with a c o m m o n purpose and are within the bounds of the general policies coming from the Board of Directors and Management Committee. Zimfep programmes are financed primarily by donors since it is a non governmental organisation although it has a number of initiatives for income generation to m o v e towards self-sufficiency in funding. The major source of donor funds has been S I D A (Sweden) which has provided institutional

19

Tke Case of Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production

support to Zimfep, covering project activities, staff salaries, and administrative costs. Other donors include H I V O S (Holland), the Lutheran World Federation, S A I H , the Canadian High Commission, the British High Commission, the World Council of Churches, Canadian Development and Peace, Christilucher Friedinsidienst, CIES, T D H , F E P A , E Z E , C C O D P , C P M , H C S A , H E K S and others. The Zimbabwe Government has also sponsored specific projects in Zimfep in the form of grants. (Table 9)

Table 9: Source of Funds for Zimfep 1984-1994 (Z$m)

Year

1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

Sida (Sweden)

0.70 1.43 -1.48 1.61 1.60 1.90 2.92 -3.95 3.14

H I V O S (Holland)

0.39 0.41 -0.33 0.26 0.55 0.81 2.13 -1.25 2.01

SAIH (Norway)

0.01 --0.33 0.29 0.55 0.67 0.31 -0.77 1.07

Others

1.20 1.23 -0.73 0.67 0.66 0.51 2.23 -2.41 1.87

Total

2.30 3.07 -2.87 2.83 3.36 3.89 7.59 -8.38 8.09

Source: Zimfep, 1984-1994

N B Annual reports for 1986 and 1992 were not available to the author at the time of writing, hence the figures for these two years have not been included.

The figures shown in Table 9 in no way account for all the donor support for Zimfep. According to the Zimfep Directorate, financial support for Zimfep started in 1980 and was used for building the pilot schools (classrooms, teachers' houses and supporting infrastructure). The funding agreements between Zimfep, the Ministry of Education and donor agencies were targeted at specific projects or activities within Zimfep such as technical education and several independent evaluations on the impact of the funds on these projects have been done. The interim and summative evaluations sponsored by the donors themselves or Zimfep have, therefore, constituted, to a large extent, the monitoring and evaluation mechanism used by Zimfep to measure its ability and efficiency in fulfilling the objectives or operating according to established procedure. Internal and external audits of h o w government and donor funds have been used are an integral part of Zimfep's accountability to the taxpayer and donors. Annual reports which detail activities of the four divisions of Zimfep serve to inform donors, in a non technical manner of the successes and failures of projects in which they have invested.

After realising that influencing curriculum development formally through the Curriculum Development Unit of the Ministry of Education was difficult, Zimfep launched the Associate Membership Programme. Schools join the programme on a voluntary basis and approximately 400 schools have joined the programme. O f these 400 schools, 90% are secondary schools, constituting 27% of the secondary schools in Zimbabwe. These Associate Schools receive small

20


grants for the establishment of Production Units and financial support to introduce E W P to pupils:

The Associate membership scheme is a spontaneous accolade to the utility of the Zimfep concept of E W P . It has demonstrated the diffusion of E W P from the pilot schools and stands out as one of our greatest achievements in our endeavours to disseminate E W P throughout the country (Coordinator, Education Division, Zimfep).

Zimfep staff organise seminars and workshops for Associate Members w h o pay a nominal joining fee. The Associate M e m b e r Programme is sophisticated enough to have its o w n administrative structure, with each district having a district committee made up of representatives of schools in the district which are part of the programme. The district committee then elects someone from their district to sit on the provincial committee and the provincial committee elects someone to sit m the National Committee. Individual schools, district and provincial committees send reports on P U activities to the Education Division and these are published in the Zimfep newsletter "Learn and W o r k " .

In recent years, the Associate M e m b e r programme has seen several setbacks including the withdrawal of a major donor (Canadian Catholic Organization for Development), w h o used to provide seed money for small projects (PUs) at schools. Individual schools, up to whole regions, have applied to join the Associate M e m b e r Programme or have submitted P U project proposals but these activities have not been possible because of lack of funds. A frustrated member of the Education Division of Zimfep lamented.

Last year there were no reports on P U s and Associate M e m b e r Programme meetings, seminars or symposia because of lack of funds. This has severely curtailed our effectiveness in spreading E W P to the rest of the schools.

Mudzonga and M o y o (1994) point out that the Associate M e m b e r Programme administrative structures is testimony to fact that Zimfep does not have sufficient personnel to cover all schools w h o desire to take up E W P and have to rely on the enthusiasm of school teachers, heads and education officers to push the programme.

5.5 Zimfep E W P project in Context From the survey and document analysis carried out it appears that Zimfep's E W P project is operating in an environment which is not very conducive to the fulfilment of its objectives. W h e n Zimfep was started as an N G O to experiment with E W P and ultimately to infuse E W P ideas into the curriculum, it had the support of D Mutumbuka w h o was then Minister of Education. With the departure of supportive Ministry of Education officials, Zimfep was left to work with officers in the ministry w h o were not supportive of its quest to develop curriculum materials on E W P and propagate them throughout Zimbabwean schools either because they were ideologically opposed to E W P as a concept or because they simply did not understand it.

It is the contention of Ministry of Education officials that there were never any formal channels of communication opened between Zimfep and the Ministry of Education. The w a y the project was started is seen by the majority of Ministry of Education officials as a top d o w n approach in which the E W P concept was well understood by the top hierarchy if ministry officials w h o had

21


previous experience with the concept, during the war of liberation, in the refugee camps. The rest of the government officials in the Ministry of Education did not have an idea what E W P was all about, and m a n y equated it with school children being forced to do manual work at the expense of academic study. This is generally seen by the Ministry of Education officials as the origin of the problems which characterise their uncomfortable relationship with Zimfep:

The agreement between the Ministry of Education and Zimfep detailing h o w they related to each other and the mechanisms for transferring curriculum innovations to Ministry of Education ( C D U ) is seen by Ministry officials as having no force of effect, it is seen as a "gentlemen's agreement which is not legally binding because it did not go through the Attorney General's Office. (Zimfep Directorate).

This state of affairs was confirmed by sentiments expressed by some officers during interviews at Ministry of Education:

The Zimfep E W P has been abused, lost focus since M u t u m b u k a and Fay Chung left. The academics that have c o m e into the Ministry of Education have no sympathy for E W P . (Ministry official).

Zimfèp has no mechanisms to submit syllabi to us ( C D U ) , there are neither policy nor procedures on h o w they should transfer their so-called curriculum innovations to us. ( C D U officers)

Zimfep was set up politically during a period w h e n the country was moving towards socialism. It is out of step with the current socio-economic capitalist thrust in this country. It is viewed as a thing of the past. ( C D U officers)

A s a result, the existence of Zimfep outside the Ministry of Education has not facilitated its effectiveness in influencing curriculum issues as regards the concept of E W P . The frustration of Zimfep officials is epitomised in this outburst by the one of the members of the Zimfep Directorate:

It was not a free hand to experiment and implement E W P in the schools. Its like saying you will give credit to a person w h o is 90 years old only if he can bring his parents with him. The conditions were not conducive, the environment is hostile, the Ministry officials' attitudes, the community, the parents are hostile to E W P .

Therefore the draft syllabi on fundamentals of production, development studies, cultural studies, communicative English, Maths and Science submitted to C D U by Zimfep (Mudzonga and M o y o 1994), are still in limbo. With the current relationship between Zimfep and the Ministry of Education, ( C D U ) it is doubtful that syllabuses from Zimfep will be nationally adapted. Zimfep's role to directly influence curriculum development towards E W P does not seem to be a viable option under current institutional conditions unless major changes in attitudes by Zimfep, Ministry of Education officials, parents and school children occur. Zimfep has, however, not given up and plans to strengthen the Associate M e m b e r Programme and launch campaigns to influence local authorities, Members of Parliament and other prominent persons to support E W P . The Associate Membership Programme is seen as an effective grassroots movement to power resurgence of E W P which will eventually force Ministry of Education officials to accept it as a legitimate and viable curriculum innovation suited to the current socio-economic conditions of Zimbabwe.

W h e n asked about the future of E W P in Zimbabwe, the Director Zimfep said: There is evidence of a change in heart - the problems of school leaver unemployment is causing ministry officials, parents and students to question the value of the present academic education. The educators and parents realise that they are churning out dependency syndrome afflicted children into the streets with no capacity at all

22


to start their o w n businesses to make a living. This is where Zimfep philosophy of E S P is showing them the way forward.

The Zimfep E W P thrust of emphasising a mixture of practical and academic subjects and teaching students entrepreneurial skills so that they can use their practical skills to start small businesses, is supported as the most promising approach to educating Zimbabwean children by prominent institutions such as the World Bank.

Instead of trying to vocationalise academic training, the approach taken by Zimfep holds consistently greater promise. By taking market demands for skills as the point of departure, Zimfep develops its training programs and follow up activities based on the necessary combination of practical and academic training needed to acquire income earning possibilities (World Bank, 1994).

The current socio-economic backdrop in Zimbabwe of rampant unemployment, retrenchments from formal employment and a 5% age cohort w h o manage to pass with the requisite 5 ' O ' levels is giving fresh hope and impetus in Zimfep and other quarters that E W P philosophy and practice will partially provide solutions to these problems. Zimfep and the World Bank are convinced that the current thrust of vocational isation/technicalisation of Zimbabwean education without entrepreneurial training through P U activities is an expensive option and is a half-baked strategy that will not pay the required dividends to the country.

A tracer study carried out in 1990 reviewed by Mudzonga and M o y o (1994), showed that 75% of the Zimfep graduates were usefully occupied in formal sector employment, self employment in cooperatives and individual enterprises of a mostly informal nature, as well as the pursuit of further studies. The employment patterns of the graduates centred on technician posts in engineering, building and other fields.

Interviews with teachers and students at Rusungunguko and Mavudzi Zimfep Secondary Schools showed that there were m a n y role models w h o m students and teachers cited as having benefitted directly from the technical/practical subjects training and entrepreneurial exposure through P U s from the schools, w h o are n o w successful small or large business owners. M u d z o n g a and M o y o (1994) assert that, no matter h o w small the numbers of students from Zimfep institutions w h o make it in cooperatives and micro-enterprises, Zimfep has demonstrated an alternative education methodology that shows that students can be prepared for self- sufficiency, self-reliance and the entrepreneurial capacity to start, manage and expand their o w n businesses using practical/technical skills learnt at school. In this regard, Zimfep philosophies and practices of E W P are demonstrating h o w the school curriculum can be made relevant to the world of work and the world of today.

The Zimfep schools are all government schools with the buildings and facilities all meeting the national building standards and are maintained by Ministry of Public Construction and National Housing. Most of these buildings and facilities at Rusununguko and Mavudzi were built by students during the initial years of Zimfep (1980 - 1984). Part of the furniture in the buildings was m a d e by students in practical and P U activities. According to the Headmaster of Mavudzi Secondary School:

23


This goes a long way to demonstrate that the practical/technical training w e give at our schools is of the highest standards. W e still get 99% passes in the National Foundation Certifícate w h e n our students get trade tested by the Ministry of Higher Education in building, cabinet making and garment making.

The most prominent complaint at the two Zimfep schools was the diminished support from Zimfep because of lack of resources which has reduced commitment to the concept and practice of E W P .

24


Chapter 6: Findings of the In-Depth Study

B y and large, within the constraints imposed by operating outside the Ministry of Education and having no direct method of influencing curriculum development, the Zimfep project of E W P has achieved notable successes and must take credit for the policy changes that have taken place in Education in the last decade. W h e n asked what were the major achievements of Zimfep so far, members of the Zimfep Directorate and heads emphasised the following points:

1) At independence in 1980, most schools (secondary) had no practical subjects;

2) Zimfep assisted in the production of the Better Approach to Education policy document of 1982 which called for more practical/technical Education;

3) Zimfep assisted the Ministry of Education in drafting the N e w Structure and Content of Education policy document in 1986 which stated that all students in the Z J C would do at least two practical/vocational subjects and those at ' O ' level at least one practical/vocational subject.

The emphasis of Zimfep pilot schools of marrying practical and theory in education was therefore replicated throughout the country through these policy initiatives into which Zimfep had a direct input. The technicalisation/vocationalisation thrust currently pursued by the ministry is partially a result of the impetus provided by the Zimfep E W P project. However , as already pointed out, the point of departure between Zimfep and the Ministry of Education is the emphasis of Zimfep on teaching technical/practical skills together with survival entrepreneurial skills which will enable the student to be self employed or to start a micro business around the skills they have learnt. The policy of technicalisation/vocationalisation is an expensive policy which the government cannot afford to finance (World Bank, 1994) and a substantial number of schools have not received technical kits and tools to enable them to undertake technical/vocational subjects.

About 819 secondary school have benefitted from Government and two donor agencies ( U S A I D and SIDA) financial assistance. However 699 schools still need to be provided with at least basic working tool kits (Moyo, undated).

With the tightening of budgetary allocations, it is not likely that all secondary schools will be adequately equipped to effectively offer technical and vocational subjects, as specified in the N e w Structure and Content of Education policy document, in the foreseeable future. Although government allocates a line item in its annual budget for technical/vocational education, the amount of money required to equip all secondary schools adequately is very large; this means that the impact of these allocations is relatively small.

It was apparent that Ministry of Education officials are rethinking the technicalisation/vocationalisation of education. Most of the officials interviewed were entertaining serious consideration of matching the practical/vocational subject component of the curriculum to the socio-economic activities around each cluster of schools. There is a very strong belief that

25


the school curriculum must train students to fit into the immediate local economy but with the

students being allowed to do the core subject areas of Mathematics, Science, English and Shona

or Ndebele. Students in areas engaged in tourism, tobacco production and wildlife management,

for example, will be taught these subjects in the practical/vocational subjects so that they are

exposed to and acquire skills directly relevant to the socio-economic activities in their areas: This

concept is akin to the Zimfep E W P and community based education and it is apparent that these

revolutionary ideas taking root in the Ministry of Education, have to some extent, benefitted from

the bold entrepreneurial approach espoused by Zimfep.

Another area of success by Zimfep is the Associate Membership Programme of schools. Associate Schools have proved that there is a latent groundswell of interest in the practices and principles of E W P . It is to the credit of Zimfep that they have disseminated the E W P concept and demonstrated its benefits to the pilot schools to such an extent that there is a spontaneous association of schools w h o have organized themselves and are sustaining the interest in E W P activities with very little support from Zimfep. Madzonga and M o y o (1994) concluded:

The Associate Programme has been able to penetrate the concept of E W P to 400 schools, albeit at an informal level. Until such time as the Ministry of Education and Culture is committed to make E W P or other vocationalisation programmes part of the formal curriculum, this might be the best w a y to immediately influence the educational system, given the institutional, staff and financial constraints faced by Zimfep and the Ministry.

The Community Based Education Programme where Zimfep has encouraged and facilitated the

development of cooperatives which engage in micro-enterprises such as baking, piggeries, fence

making, gardening, horticulture, uniform making, soap and dye manufacturing near its pilot

schools is another w a y of expanding E W P into the community which has gained some measure

of success. The pilot schools have, therefore, become a focal point not only for the education of

students but also for the community around the school.

The majority of the participants in the Community Based Education Programme are w o m e n . The support for E W P in the communities around the pilot schools is very, strong as indicated by the high levels of awareness on the benefits of EWP-based practical education and demand for places at Zimfep schools. The Zimfep Community Based Education Programme is a vibrant rural development model worthy of replication elsewhere in the country.

The major problems identified in this survey and other evaluations which curtail the ability of

Zimfep to register successes include the following:

1) There are no clear policy initiatives on E W P as conceptualised by Zimfep in Zimbabwe

statutes and its implementation by Zimfep is informal and not integrated with Ministry of

Education policies and practices.

2) E W P is understood to mean Education and Production or vocationalised education. Education and Production is the introduction of work-related experience programmes into schools and is explified by the School-on-the-Shop-Floor-Programme in Zimbabwe in which students are attached for a week to an industrial or service organisation for observational tours. Education and production which is currently being pushed by the

26


Ministry of Education is at best equated to career guidance in the sense that students do not gain any practical/technical skills but become familiar with what happens in the world of work by observation (Nhundu and Chivore, 1993). Vocationalised education is the introduction of practical/technical subjects into an otherwise academic curriculum similar to the current N e w Structure and Content of Education initiative currently being implemented by the Ministry of Education.

3) Lack of suitably qualified staff for practical subjects and P U activities is a major problem hampering the implementation of E W P in pilot and associate schools. Although two technical teachers' colleges have been set up in Z i m b a b w e , they teach practical/technical skills and not the concept of practice of E W P . This means that n e w teachers at pilot schools and associate schools need to be oriented to the Zimfep concept of E W P . Zimfep used to hold seminars and symposia on the concept regularly but because of financial/transport constraints has not done so in the last two years.

Zimfep last visited us in 1993 to hold a workshop to re-orient teachers to the concept of E W P . There is a great danger that the philosophy will die as currently three quarters of the teachers do at this school do not know what E W P is all about Deputy Headmaster, Rusununguko Secondary School.

The same story was related to the author at Mavudzi School. Teachers w h o are trained in the Zimfep E W P concept leave the schools and are replaced by those w h o have not been exposed to the concept. Zimfep has no control over the appointment of teachers at its pilot schools.

4) Production Units, a key component of the E W P educational strategy, are failing because of number of reasons. At Mavudzi, when the author visited the school, no P U activity was being carried out because the principles of profit sharing by students and staff involved in the P U had been put to a stop by government auditors. The author was told that government auditors insisted on accountability for all money generated by activities within the school and proceeded to audit even P U accounts run by students. This has resulted in teachers w h o were supervising the P U activities abandoning them because it puts diem at risk of being discharged from the public service for misappropriation of funds. Teachers cannot absolutely guarantee that accounts kept by students in a learning process will be correct and the auditing instructions that all money generated should go to Treasury go against the core principles of P U activities. At the other school visited, Rusununguko, P U activities were flourishing. This is because, at this school, P U s are an extra-curricular club activity, are entirely financed by students and teachers and have nothing to do with school finances. They are not subject to government audit regulations which have wreaked havoc at the sister school.

5) Lack of Ministry of Education support for technical vocational subjects in various forms is a major problem. O n e of the major problems identified at Rusununguko was the insistence by Ministry of Education that the school use the teacher-student ratio found at other schools. The school currently has 38 teachers but is being asked to dismiss 10 because using a general ratio which disregards the fact that the school teachers a high

27

The Case ofZimbabvx Foundation for Education with Production

number of technical subjects, it is overstaffed. The current recommended teacher-student ratios are 1:33, 1:30 and 1:20 for Forms I and II; Forms III and IV; and F o r m V and V I respectively. However, additional practical subject teachers are deployed at a ratio of 1 for every 320 students taking the practical/vocational subjects. Technical/vocational subjects require a lower staff student ratio because of the close supervision required to impart technical competency and the system ratio is too large. It would be a expedient on the part of Ministry of Education to reduce the staff-student ratio for additional teachers to take into account the specialised requirements of close individual supervision required to impart practical/vocational skills.

6) The practical/technical subject examinations are bedeviled by problems. E x a m s are usually set which require materials and tools which are not available at the school. The schools are finding it very difficult to procure materials and specialised tools which will be required for examination purposes because of lack of money . The withdrawal of Zimfep support for technical education to schools has worsened this problem.

Zimfep has partially met its objective of producing on publishing innovative curriculum materials focusing on E W P . T o date they have successfully published booklets on Theatre production, Animal Traction in Z imbabwe , Production Units, Cooperatives, C o m m e r c e and Government Policy on Education in Z i m b a b w e which are used by schools in Z i m b a b w e . In addition they publish a newspaper "Learn and W o r k " which covers aspects of E W P theory and activities for dissemination to schools and other interested parties.

Zimfep through the job creation department has a number of cooperative and micro-enterprises which it has nurtured to success throughout the country. Presently Zimfep is diversifying into entrepreneurial training of other clientele other than school leavers and is gaining recognition as "the country's most experienced and competent development agency in this form of business training and support" (Mudzongaand M o y o , 1994). All in all, the approach taken by the Zimfep E W P project is instrumental in the changes in attitudes of parents and educators towards making education more relevant to the world of work and the socio-economic conditions obtaining in Z imbabwe

28


Chapter 7: Lessons Learned

The lesson learnt from the Zimfep experiences are generally concerned with its relationship with the Ministry of Education:

1) W h e n Zimfep was set up as a curriculum innovation programme to experiment and later infuse the concept of E W P into the whole education system, clear channels of its relationship with the Ministry of Education and specifically with the Curriculum Development Unit should have been formally set up. The existence of Zimfep outside the ministry has severely curtailed its influence in curriculum development as it is seen as a political organisation which operated at the whims of key personalities within the Ministry of Education of a previous administration and has no place or relevance in the scheme of things.

For Zimfep to be effective as a curriculum innovator, changes in the current relationship between the agent of change (Zimfep) and the implementor of the changes (Ministry of Education) need to occur. It goes without saying, that the relationship between Zimfep and the Ministry of Education, needs to be examined clearly defined.

2) The Ministry of Education should come out clearly as to whether or not they are for E W P by making an official policy decision on E W P . The current N e w Structure and Content of Education policy technicalising and vocationalising education is not synonymous with the Zimfep concept of E W P , although it was largely influenced by E W P . There is, therefore, need for the Z i m b a b w e government to clearly enunciate policy guidelines for education regarding E W P . This will resolve the current confusion where some of the grassroots are demanding E W P while the majority of the Ministry of Education officials think that its a dead and buried concept.

3) T o be successfully implemented, even after the bureaucratic obstacles have been removed, the concept of E W P needs to be extended throughout the country after thorough debate at all levels of society so that its accepted by parents, teachers and the community at large. Currently the E W P concept is unknown or people have half baked ideas on what it entails and equate it with manual work. Therefore, there is considerable opposition to it a m o n g parents and students w h o still subscribe to the notion that academic education is superior.

There is need for Zimfep to formulate strategies of disseminating the philosophy and practice of E W P so that their vision of what E W P should be is shared by everyone in the community especially the key players in Education (Ministry of Education officials, teachers, parents, pupils). This will reduce the resistance to E W P , apparent in some of these key players, to the implementation of E W P , which in most cases, seems to be based on ignorance on what E W P is all about. Unless and until the c o m m o n vision of what E W P is and its potential benefits in producing school children that have market-driven skills, are self reliant and have the necessary entrepreneurial skills is clearly articulated and shared by the implementing organization (Ministry of Education) and the clientele (school

29

The Vase of Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production

children and parents), there will continue to be overt and covert opposition to the philosophy and practice of E W P .

Zimfep is probably thinking in the right direction by starting a grassroots bottom up approach where the aim is to show the utility and need of E W P , in the current socioeconomic conditions, to parents and key opinion leaders (chiefs, Members of Parliament; Provincial/District Education Officers; heads) so that they create the necessary groundswell of support from the bottom for E W P which will then transmit itself to the policy makers in die Ministry of Education.

4) Lack of Ministry support for E W P means diat problems of P U s and examinations covered in this report are likely to continue and forestall the progress of E W P dissemination to a wide population of schools.

5) Technical/vocational education in itself is expensive and m a y not directly produce students w h o are capable of self employment and self reliance. There is no doubt that the Zimfep approach of combining technical/vocational education with market related entrepreneurial skills is a more feasible approach to solving the rampant school leaver unemployment problems faced by Zimbabwe and other Southern/Eastern Africa countries.

6) Zimfep must unlink itself from its political past. T o most people, the E W P concept and Zimfep are inexorably linked to socialist ideology which has been officially abandoned in favour for the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) rooted in market-driven capitalist policies. The link between Zimfep and E W P to socialism is seen by some people as making Zimfep and E W P irrelevant to the current socio-economic conditions. For the concept of E W P to be accepted by the wider population, it must be presented as curriculum innovation which increases curriculum relevance to the world of work and the world of today by enabling students to acquire technical/vocational and entrepreneurial skills which they can use in their o w n micro-businesses or in formal employment. Zimfep must clearly demonstrate that E W P is an answer to the runaway unemployment problems facing school-leavers without recourse to political and ideological dogma.

7) The Zimfep E W P project as conceptualised in Zimbabwe is classic example of the top-d o w n approach in introducing a project to the community and the inevitable pitfalls that accompany this patronising method. Zimfep and its mandate to disseminate E W P were created through force of personalities w h o were at the top of Ministry of Education in 1980. D . Mutumbuka and Fay Chung (the first and second Minister of Education and Culture in the post independence era) were strong proponents of E W P because they had conceptualised this innovation in the refugee camp. W h e n they came to Zimbabwe after m e war, they tried to change the educational system to conform to their E W P conceptual framework. However, resistance by Ministry of Education bureaucrats, parents and pupils meant that they could not directly declare E W P policy in the Ministry of Education and enforce its implementation. Therefore, they created Zimfep outside the Ministry of Education which as earlier indicated was the beginning of the implementation difficulties of the transfer of E W P innovations to the national curriculum.

30


T h e emphasis on the Associate School Programme which Zimfep is currently pursuing m a y b e a better approach because it allows the key players and clientele of the E W P programme to gradually see its benefits and join the programme if they so wish. A top-down, prescriptive approach without educating the key players and clientele on E W P has little chances of successful adoption by the nation.

• • • • •

31

The Cass cf Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production

References

Anderson, G . (1990). Fundamentals of Educational Research. The Faliner Press, London, U K .

Atkinson, N . D . , S. T . Agere and M . N . M a m b o (1993). Towards Quality Improvement for

More Effective Development: A Sector Analysis of Education in Zimbabwe. A

Report prepared for Ministry of Education and Culture; Ministry of Higher

Education, and U N I C E F . Harare, Zimbabwe.

Matiza, G . (1994). The Concept of E W P from Zimfep's Point of View. Learn and Work 6: 1-2.

Harare, Zimbabwe.

Ministry of Education and Culture (1992). Annual Report of the Secretary for Education and

Culture for the Year Ended 31st December 1992. Government Printers: Harare,

Zimbabwe.

Ministry of Education (1996). Number of Registered Centres. Teachers and Supervisors and

Renumeration Estimates by Region. Ministry of Education Internal

Communication: Harare, Zimbabwe.

Ministry of Education and Culture (1995). First Term Primary and Secondary Enrolments.

Harare, Zimbabwe.

Ministry of Education and Culture (1994). Educational Statistical Analysis: Educational

Development Indicators - Zimbabwe : First Term 1994. Compiled by Computer

and Statistical Unit : Policy Planning: Harare, Zimbabwe.

Ministry of Higher Education (1990). Rationalisation of Vocational and Technical Education in

Zimbabwe. Policy document. December 1990. Harare, Zimbabwe.

M o y o , D . (undated). Policies and Programmes for Growth and Employment Promotion in the

Non-Formal Sector of the Economy in Zimbabwe: The Role of Technical and

Vocational Education Training. Study prepared for the International Labour Office:

Harare, Zimbabwe.

Mutumbuka, D . B . (1984). The Concept of Education with Production. In Pamberi ne Education: N e w Directions in Zimbabwe Schools. Zimfep: Harare, Zimbabwe.

Mtobi (undated). Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production (ZIMFEP). Education

Division, Zimfep: Harare, Zimbabwe.

Mudzonga, L . and S. M o y o (1994). A SIDA Assessment of Zimfep : 1994. A n evaluation report

sponsored by SIDA. Harare, Zimbabwe.

32

The Case of Zimbabwe Foundation/or Education with Production

Nhundu, T . J. and B . R . S. Chivore, (1993). An Evaluation Report on the State of the Art and EracliCÊ of Education with Production ( E W P ^ in Zimbabwe. A research study sponsored by Zimfep. Harare, Zimbabwe.

Nhundu, T . J. and A . B . Mashingaidze, (1992). Tnterim Impact Evaluating of S A I H funded Projects in Zimfep Institutions. SAIH/Zimfep Cooperation Agreements 1985-1992. Harare, Zimbabwe.

World Bank (1994). The Public Sector and Poverty Reduction Options World Bank Office. Harare, Zimbabwe.

Yin, R . K . (1981). Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Sage. Publications. Beverly Hills, California.

Zimbabwe Government (1990). Zimbabwe : The First Decade 1980 - 1990. Roblaw Publishers, Harare, Zimbabwe.

Zimfep (1991). Schools in the Struggle. Zimfep Production. Harare, Zimbabwe.

Zimfep (1984-1994). Zimfep Annual Reports. Zimfep Publications: Harare, Zimbabwe.

U N E S C O (1995). Terms of reference for Tn-Depth Studies Concerning Case-Africa Project. Sub-Regional Office in Harare: Harare, Zimbabwe.

33


Appendix 1: Zimbabwe Teacher by Qualification: Primary

Qualification

Certifies Honours Graduate Certified Graduate Bachelor Education Uncertified Honours Grade Uncertified Graduate Zintec Graduate " 0 " Level plus 4 years teacher training: - Primary - Secondary Academic - Secondary Technical " 0 " Level plus 3 years - Primary - Secondary Academic - Secondary Technical " 0 " Level plus 2 years - Primary - Secondary Academic - Secondary Technical Junior Certificate plus 3 years teacher training Junior Certificate plus 2 years teacher training Standard 6 plus 2 years teacher training 5 years teacher training 4 years teacher training Journeyman Zintec trainee Student trainee Non-teaching Diploma Unrecognised Degree Untrained

TOTAL 1992

All Provinces

Government

Male

2 3 12 0 2 381

613 32 0

719 17 3

250 0 0

110

298 471 3 13 11 19 40 1 1 935

3936

Female

1 7 16 1 3 664

950 79 0

1440 79 5

307 3 0

146

561 1009 15 13 12 82 67 0 0 750

6310

Total

3 10 28 1 5 1045

1563 111 0

2159 196 8

557 3 0

256

859 1480 18 26 23 101 107 1 1 1685

10246

Non-Government

Male

5 12 14 4 7 3041

5387 905 6

3778 115 98

732 37 2

674

1729 3699 86 85 225 1023 1284 1 2 9073

32024

Female

3 11 14 5 7 1656

3606 5323 2

2735 70 17

262 15 1

320

724 1924 85 49 169 369 1-12 0 0 4975

18564

Total

8 23 28 9 14 4697

8993 1438 8

6513 185 115

994 52 3

994

2453 5623 171 134 3,94 1392 2296 1 2 14048

50588

t Total all Government and

Non-government * Secondary schools

Male

7 15 26 4 9 3422

6000 937 6

4497 132 101

982 37 2

784

2027 4107 89 98 236 1042 1324 2 3 10008

25960

Female

4 18 30 6 10 2320

4556 612 2

4175 249 22

569 18 1

466

1285 2933 100 62 181 451 1079 0 0 5725

24874

Total

11 33 56 10 19 5742

1055 1549 8

8672 381 123

1551 55 3

1250

3312 7103 189 160 417 1493 2403 2 3 15733

60834 j

Source: Ministry of Education (1992). Annual report of the Secretary for Education and Culture for the year ended 31 December 1992.

34


A P P E N D I X 2: Zimbabwe Teacher by Qualification: Secondary

Qualification

Certifies Honours Graduate Certified Graduate Bachelor Education Uncertified Honours Grade Uncertified Graduate Zintec Graduate " 0 " Level plus 4 years teacher training: - Primary - Secondary Academic - Secondary Technical " 0 " Level plus 3 years - Primary - Secondary Academic - Secondary Technical " 0 " Level plus 2 years - Primary - Secondary Academic - Secondary Technical Junior Certificate plus 3 years teacher training Junior Certificate plus 2 years teacher training Standard 6 plus 2 years teacher training 5 years teacher training 4 years teacher training Journeyman Zintec trainee Student trainee Non-teaching Diploma Unrecognised Degree Untrained

T O T A T . 1992

All Provinces

Government

Male

105 338 284 173 330 38

74 792 580

143 492 124

24 36 14

6

9 28 2 79 54 3 145 14 11 614

4512

Female

52 253 132 69 279 31

98 918 230

178 491 175

20 34 9

7

9 5 2 46 16 2 129 15 8 223

3431

Total

157 591 416 242 609 69

172 1710 810

321 983 299

44 70 23

13

18 33 4 125 70 5 274 29 19 837

7943

Non-Government

Male

172 536 327 191 467 177

332 2541 645

3928 1319 226

15 142 46

7

16 26 20 422 98 1 582 84 73 2158

11015

Female

69 242 85 54 191 66

171 838 252

186 481 123

8 52 15

4

13 9 10 130 25 4 363 32 14 838

4275

Total

241 778 412 245 658 243

503 3379 897

578 1800 349

23 194 61

11

29 35 30 552 123 5 945 116 87 2996

15290

Total all Government and

Non-government Secondary schools

Male

277 874 611 364 797 215

406 3333 1225

535 1811 350

39 178 60

13

25 54 22 501 152 4 727 98 84 2772

15527

Female

121 495 217 123 470 97

269 1756 482

364 972 298

28 86 24

11

22 14 12 176 41 6 492 47 22 1061

7706

Total

398 1369 828 487 1267 312

675 5089 1707

899 2783 648

67 264 84

24

47 68 34 677 193 10 1219 145 106 3833

23233

Source: Ministry of Education (1992). Annual report of the Secretary for Education and Culture for the year ended 31 December 1992.

35


APPENDIX 3: Structure of ZEMFEP

Patron

Board of Directors

Management Committee

Directorate

Bulawayo Regional Office

Administration and Finance Division

- Admin/Finance - Internal Audit - Coop. Advisor - Management Advisors

Internal Audit

Education Provision

- Accounts. Dept. - P/S Admin. Dept. - Secretarial and Messenger Services

Operation Division

- Skills Training Dept. - Curriculum Publication Dept. - Community Education Theatre and Dance - Building Materials Development

Schoolleavers Job-creation Division

• Agricultural Dept. • Technical Services Dept. • Administration

- Agrie Coop. Dept. - Industrial Coop. Dept. - Research Development Marketing - Coop Training and Development Unit - Regional Coop. Develoment and Training

36

Documents

Report on functional literacy: the case of Zimbabwe …unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0015/001569/156918eo.pdf · entertained my intrusion and provided priceless documentation for the