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By Charles Chidavaenzi
No white learner would waste resources pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree to end up being a tobacco farmer.
Charles Chadavaenzi
In 1980, the independent Zim government opened up the education system in response to the bottleneck system that was espoused by the colonial masters to ensure a controlling measure against massive black enlightenment. Colonial education policies served to meet and execute the political objectives of the repressive system. It created and allowed only a paltry percentage of the learners to access secondary education and an even smaller percentage into tertiary education leaving the bulk of learners with mere primary education.
This was a well-calculated move. The bulk of the education products with basic education would be useful in following basic instructions in the manufacturing sector while the illiterate masses would be exploited in agriculture and mining. The limited percentage who accessed secondary education would fit into piccanin boss positions controlling the semi-literate workforce or be installed into clerical duties. The colonial education system created social classes that unwittingly served the white master with passion. Even the accommodation provisions ensured a planned separation strategy that helped in the control mechanism of any workforce. Education was clearly manipulated to serve the political system with ruthless success. Our erstwhile liberators addressed this anomaly in 1980 through the massive provision of education to all and sundry and the response to the quest for education was overwhelming. Schools sprung up in very unlikely places and our literacy rate increased in leaps and bounds. The quantitative perspective was clearly addressed yet the qualitative side has been dubiously handled.
Education, especially meaningful education, is a basic human right and it is the prerogative of the state government to ensure its availability to every child without favor or exclusion. No one can deny the positive efficacy of education especially as related to a vibrant economy and improved standards of living. A page from our colonial past can attest to that. While educational provisions were structured for suitably qualified servant provisions, the white child had all the advantages open to his desire. The system ensured he could proceed to university level while other professional and artisan options were open to the rest where they could pursue courses in mining, agriculture, and manufacturing, these three being considered the major pillars of the economy. Most learners from the white sector would pursue courses normally related to the family business. Thus a farming background would entail an agricultural course pursuant to the major activity on the farm. No white learner would waste resources pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree to end up being a tobacco farmer. His education would be attuned to the tobacco industry as this would ensure that the farming of this crop is taken to the next level by each generation.
As much as opening up educational space was beneficial to the black majority, it lacked the cutting-edge craftsmanship to enlighten and position soundly each learner towards gainful economic activity and raised standards of living. It is questionable, for example, that Zimbabwe, with an over ninety percent literacy rate, has an over ninety percent unemployment rate despite the vast tracts of land and over forty different types of sought-after minerals in the world. Despite a massive number of degree holders, Zimbabwe cannot extract its mineral resources meaningfully or till the land gainfully. That is several tertiary institutions have not yet researched or produced any meaningful and relevant technology to be utilised in any one of their major economic activities. That most graduands would easily fall back into the ease of selling second-hand clothing and airtime instead of initiating projects that create wealth not for themselves only but for their employees also. These are the clear signs that our education system is out of sync with the needs and reality in Zimbabwe. Sadly, the situation obtained now could be worse than the exploitative one crafted by the colonial master.
To make matters worse, the current education system has failed dismally to inculcate positive character traits in its subjects. Look at the massive cheating in exams, the endemic corruption assailing our nation, the mounds of rubbish dotting our neighborhoods, the proliferation of dubious sects, open defecation in town centers, etc. These are the clear signs of a sick nation that has failed to progress to acceptable international standards of living! We can blame none but ourselves for the failure to design an education system that acts as a springboard to national development, shared prosperity, and high standards of living for all Zimbabweans.
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