“Chiredzi South legislator Kalisto Gwanetsa last week called a meeting with all school heads in his constituency after it recorded poor results during the 2019 Grade 7, Ordinary Level and Advance Level Zimsec examinations” reported Newsday in February 2020.
“Most of the schools performed dismally with some posting a 0% pass rate while others got 2% or 3%.”
"I have called this meeting because I am not happy with last year's results. I know things are difficult economically, but our results are pathetic. We have room to improve. We should be seen putting more effort to improve our pass rate,” said the Zanu PF MP Brigadier-General Kalisto Gwanetsa (Retired).
Well the schools were open for only three months before they closed for the nationwide corona virus lockdown.
Officially, schools reopened on 28 September 2020 but in practice students have not been attending classes because there are no teachers. Teachers are strike. They are demanding a living wage.
One thing is certain, there will NOT be much improvement in the school results in Chiredzi South constituency. And if the truth be told this is not a problem in Chiredzi South alone, it is everywhere.
2019 was not the first time the country had posted pathetic school results, this has been going on for decades now. And, worst of all, there is absolutely no hope of education standard ever improving without first reviving the country’s comatose economy. As long as the economy remains in the doldrums there will be no money to pay the teachers a living wage and money to pay for all the other things needed to deliver quality education.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been in decline for the last 40 years, ever since the country’s independence in 1980. Four decades of gross mismanagement and rampant corruption have left the country’s once robust and promising economy in ruins.
Zanu PF, the party that has remained in office throughout the 40 years, has grudging acknowledged the economic meltdown but refused to accept it is responsible for it.
Worst of all, the party insist it has solutions to revive the economy, insisting the country is well on its way to become an “upper middle income nation by 2030, vision 2030!” The reality is Zanu PF has no clue what to do to revive the economic and the failure to provide such basic services as education and health proves the country is sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss.
The tragedy is the people are stuck with this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF regime for all these last 40 years. The regime has rigged the elections to secure it stay in power.
"Failure to find a lasting solution for our schools could have long-term consequences not only for education, but also for our development trajectory of the nation. Solutions must be holistic, comprehensive and inclusive. We can resolve this social contract breakdown," commented Kenneth Mtata, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) secretary-general.
The only holistic, comprehensive, inclusive and lasting solution to Zimbabwe’s economic and political crisis, the crisis in education is but one manifestation of the national crisis, is for the country to end the curse of rigged elections and bad governance by holding free, fair and credible elections.
Zimbabweans have known that the root cause of the country’s economic and political problems is bad governance. Even now with the nation’s very survival on the line, some people will not look Mnangagwa and his Zanu PF cronies in the eye and tell them “Zimbabwe must have a new system of government, one where everyone has a meaningful vote!”
“Find a holistic and lasting solution to the national crisis!” Yeah right! You know what that solution is but cannot speak it!
Decades of poor examination results has condemned hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans to a life time of ignorance and uselessness. This cruel and criminal waste of human lives must stopped.
A nation that fails to educate its citizen is doomed.
13 comments:
The economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe is a man-made problem, a result of 40 years of corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF rule. We have all know the problem in Zimbabwe is bad governance and the the solution is to end it.
The political unrest in Mozambique is partly to do with the country’s failure to hold democratic elections and to develop the country creating job opportunities for many. Anyone who is serious about end political instability should also be concerned about the curse of bad governance.
When it comes to good governance, Mnangagwa is not exactly a knight in shining armour and so one has to ask what is his ulterior motive? To earn a few brownie points for himself or expand his looting empire as he did in the DRC.
In a country where year on year inflation is 838% or 35% month on month a 40% wage increase after months of negotiating is an insult!
Zimbabwe plans to select a financial adviser by Christmas to help it raise $3.5 billion to compensate White farmers it violently evicted from their land two decades ago, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said.
Resolving the issue is seen as crucial to restoring Zimbabwe’s relations with Western nations and multilateral lenders, including the U.S. and the International Monetary Fund, which have imposed sanctions on the country’s leaders and frozen financial assistance.
Seven applications were received after a call was made for an advisory firm and three of those, including local and international companies, have been shortlisted, Ncube said in a virtual interview on Monday. The government has identified some assets it can use as “seed capital” for the payments, which are meant to cover improvements made to the farms, such as dams, rather than the land itself.
Those who inherited these assets without paying a single penny for them are still on the farms, they should pay the compensation. Why should the ordinary Zimbabwean who gained nothing from the whole sordid be the one to pay the compensation?
A 40% pay increase when inflation is a nauseating 838% is indeed a mockery! It government's responsibility to rein in inflation and not the teachers'. Government has failed to rein inflation and must do the right thing by matching the pay increasing to the runaway inflation and not to be punishing the teachers for its own nauseating incompetence.
This is a government that is obsessed about keeping its iron grip on power it has turned the country into a Police State with a bloated and over paid (relative to the teachers and other civil servants) Army, Police and CIO.
The teachers' wages are now so low it is hardly enough to buy food let alone pay for accommodation, transport and pay other bills. No amount of bullying by this government will force the teachers continue teaching in their birthday suits, live on the street, etc.
Zanu PF has no clue how to revive the economic meltdown and it must admit and allow the nation to find others who will by holding free, fair and credible elections. The party has held this nation to ransom for 40 years, this must now stop!
In an interview yesterday, political analyst Alexander Rusero said the functionality and progress of a country was measured by certain indicators and more importantly, clear-cut separation of powers.
"Not in Zimbabwe, everything is just decomposing to the core, and if we were to have a happiness index, Zimbabwe would score between zero and one out of 10 in terms of being happy," he said.
"Education is fast becoming dysfunctional, the health system has been down for almost a year and without health and education systems functioning properly, what else can a country have and point to in terms of functionality.”
In an interview yesterday, political analyst Alexander Rusero said the functionality and progress of a country was measured by certain indicators and more importantly, clear-cut separation of powers.
"Not in Zimbabwe, everything is just decomposing to the core, and if we were to have a happiness index, Zimbabwe would score between zero and one out of 10 in terms of being happy," he said.
"Education is fast becoming dysfunctional, the health system has been down for almost a year and without health and education systems functioning properly, what else can a country have and point to in terms of functionality.”
Zanu PF has rigged elections and imposed itself on the nation for the last 40 years and we, the people, have done nothing to end this madness and have paid dearly for it.
The country had the golden opportunity to end the Zanu PF dictatorship during the 2008 to 2013 GNU and Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC friends sold-out and failed to implement even one reform. Ever since the GNU MDC leaders have given up on free and fair elections and settled for a share of the spoils of power from Zanu PF. MDC leaders are now running with the povo hare and hunting with Zanu PF hounds.
We have not only failed to punish the MDC sell-outs but continue to follow them blindly like sheep to the slaughter.
Yes Zimbabwe is a failed and captured state but, frankly, we deserve nothing less! Nations get the government they deserve and we, in Zimbabwe, deserve this corrupt and murderous Zanu PF dictatorship complete with the entourage of equally corrupt and incompetent opposition parties.
@ Masaraure ARTUZ
“Congratulations to the teachers of Zimbabwe for finally realising that, “the only effective answer to organized greed is organized labour.” For long we have been victims of exclusion by the ruling elites who have been appropriating our national wealth towards elite privileges at the expense of the bread of our own families. The ruling elites reached a point of feeling entitled to pamper themselves with luxuries, starving the rest of us. We felt helpless as individuals but now that we chose to unionise and organise we have emerged as an unstoppable machinery.
“Yes the ruling elites are quaking in their boots. They have no answer to this unprecedented teacher action. They threatened us with job losses or salary cessations, we told them in their face, “Better to starve fighting than to starve working.” We meant it then and we mean it now.”
To award the teachers a 40% pay rise when inflation is a nauseating 838% is an insult!
It government's responsibility to rein in inflation and not the teachers'. Government has clearly failed to rein in inflation and it must do the right thing and match the pay increasing to the runaway inflation. By awarding the teacher these pathetic wages government is punishing the teachers for its own nauseating incompetence.
This government is obsessed about keeping an iron grip on power and has turned the country into a Police State, for example. We have a bloated and over paid (relative to the teachers and other civil servants) Army, Police and CIO. We have more security personnel, spying and harassing the citizen on behave of the ruling elite; than teachers, health workers and social workers, serving the nation’s basic needs!
Zanu PF has failed to revive the economic meltdown and must allow the nation to elect a government that will address the people’s basic need. The party has held this nation to ransom for 40 years; this must now stop! Enough is enough!
@ Mavaza
“Mozambique is facing unprecedented civil war engineered by the ISIS militia men. This has prompted the Zimbabwean president moved by passion to sound a strong warning alarms to ISIS.
“President Emerson Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe is ready ready to help neighbouring Mozambique fight the Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado Province that has dragged on for four years now.”
Wisemen say only fools rush in!
Waging a war is a very expensive business in terms of human lives and material resources! Zanu PF is failing to pay teachers, nurses and doctors a living wage but has the money to bankroll a war in Mozambique!!!!
We should also remember that Mozambique is not a healthy and functioning democracy and the root cause of the unrest in Cabo Delgado Province is the decades of bad governance. We should be piling the pressure on Maputo to address its democratic deficit as a matter of urgency. We must be seen as the one being propping up a dictatorship!
Only a fool would cheer and applaud another fool rushing in headlong!
@Mavaza
“Thugs in Zanu PF soiling the good name of the party!”
Is this meant as an example of a pan, oxymoron and a generous splash of sarcasm all rolled into one! Zanu PF is a party of corrupt and ruthless thugs who have rode roughshod over the ordinary Zimbabweans denying them their freedoms and rights. As the wealth started to shrink, Zanu PF thugs have started to fight like hyenas over the scraps not even Mugabe, the top dog, was safe as we know.
“Thugs in Zanu PF soiling the good name of the party!” is as nonsensical as saying a snake is not a snake!
Poor Mavaza, he has made a career of singing Zanu PF praises he cannot help himself but continue even at the expense of making a complete fool of himself! He is Zimbabwe’s answer to Saddam Hussein’s “Chemical” Ali who continued to talk of his boss winning the war even after the Americans had completely overrun every city, town and hamlet in Iraq!
@ Donavan
“Wilbert Mukori Just a simple question for you Wilbert." What do you think you would have done better if you were Chamisa?"
“I ask you this because you have never stopped insulting Chamisa who has fought Zanu PF since the inception of MDC. We all know without doubt the the current illegitimate psychopath calling himself a president was clearly defeated and used the kindergarten captured COURTS and the weakest military in Africa to deny ZIMBABWEANS their will. Do you honestly think you can thrive under this military diabolic regime?”
Before I answer you, ask yourself what does MDC, Movement for Democratic Change, mean? The people of Zimbabwe have risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders into office on the understanding the party will bring about the democratic changes the nation was dying for to stop Zanu PF rigging elections.
MDC has been on the political stage for 20 years, 5 of which they were in the GNU, and have failed to deliver even one democratic change. They had the golden opportunity to implement the reforms during the GNU and they failed to implement even one reform because Mugabe bribed them with the trappings of high office.
Mugabe and his Zanu PF cronies risked life and limb fighting in the war of liberation but that did not stop them become the corrupt and murderous tyrants we have today. Same thing happened with the MDC leaders, they started off as champions of democratic change but as soon as they tasted power they too were corrupted.
MDC leaders sold-out big time, that is a historic fact. There are those who want to bury their heads in the sand and deny truths, facts and realities, that is their business not mine!
To go back to your question then, I would have implemented the reforms. If I too was corrupted and failed to deliver I sure hope I would be honest enough to admit my failure.
Indeed, even if I too maintain, just like Zanu PF and MDC leaders, that I did nothing wrong; that will never change the historic fact that Zimbabwe is a Banana Republic, whose economy has all but collapse, that cannot deliver even the not basic services such as education and health care and millions now live in abject poverty. Only a fool will continue to deny such a glaring and tragic reality and that it is man-made and therefore could have been easily avoided!
@ Donavan
“Khupe is irrelevant and doesn't represent anyone. Mnangangwa is an illegitimate president. Chamisa won the election and was denied leadership. It therefore becomes silly to suggest Chamisa to go.”
Yes Mnangagwa rigged the July 2018 elections and is, per se, illegitimate.
We have not only known that Zanu PF rigged elections, the nation has risked life and limb to elect MDC leaders into power so they can implement the reforms designed to stop rigged elections. MDC leaders did have the golden opportunity to implement the reforms but failed to do so.
By participating in flawed and illegal elections the MDC are giving credibility to the process and, by extension, legitimacy to the vote rigging Zanu PF. MDC are participating for selfish reasons, they are after the few gravy train seats Zanu PF gives away as bait.
Of course, Chamisa and his sell-out MDC friends must go and never again hold public office!
The only reason MDC still have followers is because these MDC supporters have no clue what the GNU was about much less that MDC leaders sold-out big time. MDC supporters are a very naive and gullible lot and it is a tragedy because the country has no hope of having a health democracy with such an electorate. None!
The Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council was this week forced to suspend the setting of examination papers after examiners downed tools, rejecting a $4 000 payment offer, which they deemed too little.
On Tuesday, over 100 examiners, mostly teachers who were camped at Chinhoyi University of Technology refused to prepare questions for compilation into examination papers for future use after Zimsec had duped them into starting work without signing contracts.
This is just one more nail in Zimbabwe’s education service. Private school have managed to maintain their standard by supplementing the government salary to the teachers and funded everything else. Now these private schools have to look somewhere else for someone to set their exams and mark them! There is Cambridge for O and A level but what about grade 7 and Form 2?
Zimbabwe’s economic and political crisis is a man-made problem, 40 years of corrupt and tyrannical rule, and we the people have sat there like cabbages and let the Zanu PF thugs destroy the economy and our future! The people get governments they deserve and we certainly deserve this corrupt, vote rigging and murderous Zanu PF regime complete with its entourage of equally corrupt and utterly useless opposition parties!
It is very sad that even after 40 years of rigged elections, corruption and plunder we have leaders like Mtata who continue to bury their heads in the sand and will not admit what is before their own eyes! Zanu PF is corrupt and incompetent we must seek change!
For how many years will it take before the nation finally accept that Zanu PF leaders are mere mortals and they have no divine right to govern without the consent of the people.
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