The Sunday Mail
Harmony Agere: Extra Reporter
Advertisements seeking prospective primary and secondary school learners have in the past fortnight taken media platforms by storm. With public schools never short of recruits, most of the adverts were placed by emerging private schools.The development has, however, raised concerns with experts warning that the sudden proliferation of such schools could be a result of a lax in the process to register and acquire licences to establish learning institutions.
Educationist and lecturer in the Department of Technical Education at University of Zimbabwe Dr Peter Kwaira fear the sprouting of schools could harm the quality of education in the country.
“There are two sides to the issue, but generally I must say that our education system is under threat because most of the emerging schools are only in it for money,” he said.
“If you look at how desperate they have been to sell themselves to the nation, you conclude that either the business has, overnight, become very lucrative, or a loophole somewhere is being exploited.”
Dr Kwaira pointed out that the new schools give little attention to important issues like location, suitability of the learning environment and adhering to the education curriculum.
“lssues to do with children’s health, the curriculum they study and the recruitment of teachers are often overlooked,” said Dr Kwaira.
“This is harming the quality of the graduate we are producing at ECD, Grade Seven and Form Four.
“You may end up with a person who is educated, but cannot solve the problems we have locally because they would have studied a flawed curriculum.”
Dr Kwaira said poor quality education was not only unique to backyard colleges but was also found in elite and so-called well-resourced independent schools.
Independent schools comprise of private and trust schools and are usually run by individuals or trustees appointed by families and churches.
Most of them lure their clients with extra curricula activities and sporting disciplines not afforded by most public schools.
A closer look at some of the adverts showed that most independent schools have added services such as transport, regular educational trips, meals at school and other perks not offered in the conventional school.
These however come at a cost.
Research shows that a majority of private primary schools in Harare charge between $600 and $800 per term for day scholars, in addition to school uniforms which are mostly purchased from the school at inflated prices.
For full boarding, such schools charge anything between $1 500 and $3 500 per term.
Private secondary schools are more expensive for day scholars and can go up to $3 700 per term and up to $6 000 per term with full boarding.
Nevertheless, independent schools and the Government have often clashed over the failure by the former to introduce vernacular languages in their schools, the shunning of the local examination board as well as conformity to national values such as the pledge.
As such, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary education has on some occasions threatened to withdraw their licenses.
The Executive Director of Association of Trust Schools (ATS) Mr Tim Middleton disassociated trust schools from private schools saying trust institutions are non-profit making organisations and cannot be compromised.
“Many of the very new private schools are profit-making businesses with directors and owners while trust schools are non-profit making schools, overseen by an unpaid board of governors under a trust,” he said.
“Only trust schools are members of ATS (Association of Trust Schools), which have strict criteria for membership.”
Mr Middleton said there is monitoring from within ATS as well as externally with international organisations such as Independent Quality Assurance Agencies giving accreditation.
He said before a school can become a member of ATS, a strict criterion must be met with regards to regulations, standards and principles.
He however questioned the notion that schools with limited budgets are offering better quality education.
“The greater concern to parents with regards to the quality of education is how private schools with low fees can claim to offer the same quality of education as those with high fees,” said Mr Middleton.
“Are the schools offering the same all-round education or only offering academic studies?
“Are they developing the whole child?” Mr Middleton said parents who pay for trust and private schools believe that the expense is worth it and that what they are getting at a there does not compare to what they would get in public schools. He said the fact that there has been such a demand for independent education over the last thirty years show that parents want an all-round quality education.
“Why do people pay for satellite or cable television when there is a local service?
“Why do people buy a large house in an exclusive part of town when they could live in a smaller house in a less celebrated part of town?
“Why fly first class when economy is more than sufficient?
“Parents answer these questions by making their choice.”
Mr Middleton said in many people’s minds, quality education is purely measured in terms of academic pass rates yet ATS schools believe it is far more than that.
He said at the end of the day, the best assessment can be done by looking at the children that come out of ATS schools and get snapped up overseas for both employment and further training.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango said Government is closely monitoring the registration of private schools but warned parents to take caution.
“Whenever a private school is opened we are advised from the onset, they have to approach our district office, the local authority and the Ministry of Public Works and conform to the demanded specifications there,” she said.
“We also monitor the site where the school is going to be built because we cannot have a situation where a school is built next to the beer hall.
“We also advise on the recruitment of teachers and provide them with the curriculum.”
Dr Utete-Masango said parents with children in ECD should take particular pre-caution.
“Maybe the parents want to be cautious with their children in ECD,” she said.
“We have very strict specifications of the kind of infrastructure we want for ECD, so if parents are sending their children to unregistered schools for ECD, those children will just have to start afresh when they come to the registered schools because we will not allow them to jump to Grade One.”
Loved or hated, independent schools are playing an important role in bridging the schools’ shortage gap which stands at over 2000 units in the country.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, there are about 5 905 primary schools and 2 481 secondary schools with over 4,3 million learners in total.
