The Sunday Mail
Educationists have expressed disappointment at the level of “finger pointing” in the education sector as the country continues to be plagued by poor Ordinary and Advanced level examination results, with experts now calling for a national inquiry to be set up to investigate and stop the downward spiral.
This revelation comes on the backdrop of the announcement by the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec), that this year’s June Ordinary Level pass rate of 37,96 percent was an all-time low, with the country witnessing a 13,23 percent decrease in the pass rate.
Zimsec also revealed that at 51 percent, this year’s June Advanced Level pass rate also recorded a decrease after it stood at 54 percent last year.
Daggers have been drawn and pointed at the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Lazarus Dokora, due to the various changes he has adopted since getting into office.
Following his appointment last year, Dr Dokora introduced a variety of changes in the educational sector, chief among them being the banning of extra lessons and scrapping of teachers’ incentives, much to the chagrin of teacher representative organisations.
Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Mr Raymond Majongwe said poor results will continue to be recorded if the issue of teachers’ incentives is not addressed.
Another trade unionist, Mr Manuel Nyawo of Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ), told local media that the June low pass rate is simply a reflection of the low morale among teachers and called for the immediate reversal of policies that ban teacher incentives and extra lessons.
However, despite the unionists’ united voice, experts have since come to the ministry’s defence, saying a myriad of factors are contributing to the dismal performance of candidates.
Attributing the poor performance of “O” and “A” candidates to the incentives and extra lesson issues is tantamount to implying sabotage on the teachers’ part.
The pass rate decline has been occurring for the past couple of years, while the incentives and extra lessons ban are very recent and, therefore, cannot be wholly blamed for be downward trend.
The Zimbabwe education system has been plagued by numerous problems for the past decade. These include low pass rates, teacher shortages and shortage of schools among other impediments.
Education experts have called for a thorough investigation into the entire examination process before finger pointing.
Education Coalition of Zimbabwe director Mr Maxwell Rafomoyo said only an inquiry can diagnose the problems affecting the education system, which some critics say is almost rotten to the core.
“Like other pass rates in the past, there are a lot of things that could have played a part in the sharp decline of the June pass rate. I believe an investigation should be launched to get to the root of the matter before people start making vilifying comments about certain people or offices because that won’t solve the problem,” he said.
Mr Rafomoyo said the marking scheme and the general attitude of candidates are all factors that can impact on the national pass rate.
“People want to quickly blame the minister and his ministry for the results, but we tend to forget about all those other factors,” Mr Rafomoyo said.
“And issues like the marking scheme and the variation of the papers all affect the pass rate on a yearly basis.”
Educationist and lecturer in the Department of Technical Education at University of Zimbabwe Dr Peter Kwaira concurred with Mr Rafomoyo, saying the poor results need a closer scrutiny for the country to avoid repeating the same thing in the future.
“I am aware of the much-talked-about poor results; I had not delved much into them, but I believe a close analysis should be done to see where the problem is,” he said.
Dr Kwaira also said mathematics, science and English subjects are the major contributors to the low pass rate.
“We have a shortage of teachers in these subjects, and in most cases schools do not have proper laboratories and equipment to conduct science subjects.
“Parental involvement is also another thing, which I believe is lacking in our education sector, as they (parents and guardians) tend to believe that the learning process is a student-teacher relationship only.
“They also have a lot to contribute through monitoring the progress of their children.”
Efforts to get a comment from Dr Dokora were fruitless and his deputy, Professor Paul Mavhima, referred all the questions to the minister, saying he was the best person to comment on the issue.
“The best person to be commenting on this matter is the minister himself. I cannot say anything at this moment,” he said.
However, another education expert, Dr Hwiridzai Mashonganyika, said although there are many factors affecting education, the minister was not doing the sector any good by banning extra lessons and teacher incentives.
“It is true that teachers were doing extra lessons to raise money and it is also true that incentives are against teachers’ work ethics, but if that is the only way you have to motivate teachers, then it has to be done,” he said.
“Imparting knowledge to the next person needs concentration and style, but teachers these days do not have that because they are too busy worrying about how they will smuggle goods at the border to supplement their meagre salaries.”
The overall pass rate for November 2013 was 20,72 percent, a 2,32 percent increase from the 2012 results and the highest in the last 14 years.
Research shows that for the education sector to be improved significantly, there is need to massively increase the amount of money allocated to the sector.
There is need to improve teachers’ conditions of service so that teachers of high calibre can be attracted and retained in the field.
Massive investment also needs to be made in the construction of new schools and rehabilitation of existing ones.
Experts also say that local curriculum needs to be reviewed and be brought in line with the best in the world.
