CURRENT PERFORMANCE OF THE EDUCATION SECTOR IN ZIMBABWE

KEY POLICY CHALLENGES FACING THE SECTOR

by

Louis Masuko Economics and Technology Studies Institute of Development Studies

University of Zimbabwe Paper presented at workshop on Sectoral Economic Development, Policy Challenges and the Way Forward held at Harare International Conference Centre, 26-27 June 2003. The workshop is jointly organized by Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce and Freidreich Ebert Stiftung.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 1 Policy Recommendations.................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction................................................................................................................. 2 1.1 Objectives of the study................................................................................................ 3 1.2 Scope of the study....................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Methodology of the study ........................................................................................... 4

1.3.1 Analyzing expenditure ........................................................................................ 4 1.3.2 Key education outcomes ..................................................................................... 4

2. National Educational System in Zimbabwe................................................................ 5 2.1 Pre-School................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Primary Education ...................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Secondary Education .................................................................................................. 6 2.4 Non-Formal Education................................................................................................ 7 3. State of the Economy 1997 to 2002............................................................................ 7 4. The State of the Education Sector in Zimbabwe ........................................................ 8 4.1 Government Spending on Education .......................................................................... 9 4.2 Education outcomes .................................................................................................. 10

4.2.1 Enrolment at Primary Level.............................................................................. 10 4.2.2 Primary school Pupils per Teacher Ratio 1990-2000 ....................................... 13 4.2.3 Primary School Teachers .................................................................................. 14 4.2.4 Primary School Teacher Qualifications ............................................................ 14

4.3 Secondary School Enrolments, Promotion Rates and Dropouts Rate ...................... 15 4.4 Promotion Rates for Secondary Schools................................................................... 15 4.5 Secondary Schools Pupils per Teacher ratio............................................................. 17

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4.6 Secondary School Staffing........................................................................................ 17 4.7 Impact of Brain Drain ............................................................................................... 17 4.8 Higher Education ...................................................................................................... 18 4.9 University Education ................................................................................................ 18 4.10 University Staff......................................................................................................... 18 4.11 Technical Colleges................................................................................................ 18 5. Interpretation of Results............................................................................................ 19 5.1 Rational for public finance of education................................................................... 19 5.2 System efficiency...................................................................................................... 19 5.3 System Quality...................................................................................................... 20 5.4 Education Outcomes ................................................................................................. 20

5.4.1 Demand for Education ...................................................................................... 20 5.4.2 Supply Constraints ............................................................................................ 21

6. Conclusion and Recommendations........................................................................... 22 6.1 Policy Recommendations.......................................................................................... 22 REFERENCE.................................................................................................................... 25 APPENDIX....................................................................................................................... 26 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Secondary School Enrolment, 1990-2000 ........................................................ 15 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Number of Early childhood Education and Care (ECE) Centers and Enrolments by Province, 1999 ............................................................................................................... 5 Table 2: General Government expenditure on Education as a Percentage of Gross National Product (GNP), Zimbabwe 1991-2001 ................................................................ 9

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Table 3: Central Government: Fiscal Expenditure by Education Vote, Z$’00 1990/91 – 1999/2000 ......................................................................................................................... 10 Table 4: Primary School Enrolment by Grade and Sex, 1990-2001.............................. 11 Table 5: Promotion Rates for Primary Schools, 1990/91 – 1998/1999 .......................... 12 Table 6: Dropout Rates in Primary schools by Grade and Sex, 1990/91 – 1998/99 ...... 13 Table 7: Primary School Pupils per Teacher Ratio, 1990-2001..................................... 14 Table 8: Percentage Distribution of Non-graduate Non-trained Teachers by Province,1999 ................................................................................................................... 14 Table 10: Promotion Rates for Secondary Schools 1990/91 – 1999/2000 ................... 16 Table 11: Secondary School Pupils per Teacher ratio, 1990-2001 .............................. 17

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Executive Summary

The paper takes stock of the current state of the education sector in Zimbabwe. The performance of the education sector is analysed for the years between 2000 and 2003. Performance outcomes are compared to those of the base years' (1997 to 1999) to identify and possibly explain any performance changes. Six specific indicators were analysed. These are (i) government spending on education services sector, (ii) overall enrolment, (iii) drop out rate, (iv) promotion rate, (v) teacher/pupil ratio and, (vi) brain drain. The analysis is carried out within the understanding that policies that affect macroeconomic conditions and the labour market in a particular country shape the education system of that particular country. These indeed affect schooling decision making by parents as they weigh the benefits of sending a child to school against the cost involved in doing so. Five main conclusions were drawn from the data analysis. First is that macroeconomic and labour market policies that were implemented in Zimbabwe in the 1980s and the 1990s created a mismatch between the economy and the education system. The high level of unemployment or underemployment of university graduates, secondary and tertiary institutions graduates is a clear sign that education had expanded ahead of the economy.

Second, from 1999, the share of the budget allocated to primary, secondary and

universities received a considerable cut, (from 82% in 1997 to 79% for primary and secondary, 7% to 4% for Universities), in favor of the vocational training level of education. The share of the vocational education increased from 11% in 1997 to 12% in 1998 to 17% in 1999. This shift in the budgetary allocations could have been a belated reaction to the mismatch discussed above.

Third, public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP in Zimbabwe is among the highest in the world. But the allocation of such resources across different functional areas suggest that much more attention is given to administrators' salaries than to the salaries and conditions of service of the teaching staff and to teaching materials. The fact that, teachers top the list of professionals who have emigrated between 2000 and 20002 could be a sign of the poor working conditions for teachers. The skewed allocation of resources across functional areas could also in part explain why the grade seven and "O" Level results have not improved over the years regardless of a marked improvement in the teacher/pupil ratio and the increase in the number of qualified teachers between 2000 and 2001.

Fourth, once enrolled the boy child drop out rate and promotion rate is high and low respectively than those for the girl child from grade one to six. The reasons could be that the boys at the lower grade are faced with "more rewarding" alternatives to schooling e.g street begging, vending, and in some cases and especially in the rural areas, distance and farm work could be explanatory factors.

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Fifth, enrolment rate for the girl child has remained low. However more worrying is the drop out and the promotion rate for girls from grade six to seven. The figures for 1998 and 1999 even doubled those of 1997. And all indications point to a worsening of the situation in 2000 and 2001. While parental and community attitudes that undervalue education, especially for girls and household poverty and chores have been blamed for high drop out and low promotion rates in general, the failure to complete grade six and seven by girls may not be explained by these factors alone. The issue of birth certificates for girls, needs to be explored as well as the direct and indirect costs of staying in school as compared to the expected benefit in an environment of high unemployment. Suggested intervention strategies are outlined below: Policy Recommendations

Areas that require specific policy intervention in Zimbabwe according to the discussion above are:

• Stabilize the macroeconomic environment • Establish a Graduate Investment Fund to promote self-employment

generation by graduates from tertiary institutions and universities • Salaries and condition of service for lecturers, teachers in general and for

those in remote and rural areas should be improved • Increase budgets for teaching materials • Stakeholder empowerment in schools affairs should be encouraged • Target stipends for girls, and children of the street and street children • Labor saving technologies, water points, and community childcare

facilities to ease girls' household work • Involve mothers in school committees • Expand the BEAM program to cater for school fees to the girl child • Make school calendar compatible with local economic activities • Introduce school health and nutrition program

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1. Introduction

The health of education like all other social services sectors is a function of the state of economy. The reverse to a large extent can also be said. Education, is fundamental for the creation of a competitive, knowledge based economy. This is not only for the direct production of a critical mass of scientists and skilled workers that every country requires. Broad based education is associated with faster diffusion of information within the economy, which is crucial for enabling workers and citizens in both traditional and modern sectors to increase productivity (Porter 1998, and Hanushek and Kimko 2000).

These impacts are strongest where education is integrated into a broader competitiveness strategy that includes macroeconomic stability, trade openness, incentives for foreign investment, competitive telecommunications pricing and adequate infrastructure investments. A connection between education, the quality of institutions and social cohesion has also been documented. It is agreed upon that nations in which most of the population is literate and in which all children complete at least a basic education have higher quality institutions (Ritzen, Easterly, and Woolcock 2000) and high degree of social integration.

To provide a context to the arguments above and assess the current state of education in Zimbabwe this study reviews briefly the economic environment currently pertaining in Zimbabwe. As this report covers the period from 1997, it is useful to limit the economic discussion to this date. An evaluation of the state of education in Zimbabwe between 1997 and 2002 in carried out within the context discussed above with a view to identifying possible areas of possible policy intervention. 1.1 Objectives of the study

The primary objective of the study is to take stock of the current status of the education sector in Zimbabwe. Specifically the study seeks to identify possible areas of policy intervention for the rejuvenation of this sector. 1.2 Scope of the study

The study shall analyze the performance of the education sector for the years 2000 – 2003 guided by the following Terms of Reference:

o Government spending on the education services sector including Primary education Secondary education Tertiary education

o Overall enrolment (and age groups and gender) for primary, secondary and tertiary schools.

o Promotion rates o Level of drop outs according to age groups

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o Pupil/student: teacher ratio o Impact of brain drain

The performance shall be compared to 1997-1999 (base year) and the study attempts to identify and explain any performance changes. 1.3 Methodology of the study

The study basically used secondary information from the Education Statistics Report, Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture Reports, Primary and Secondary Schools Statistics for 2001, World Bank's Sourcebook for Poverty Reduction Strategies (2002) and African and World Development Indicators 2002.

Relevant educational indicators have been analyzed. These would provide information about the performance or health of the education system in Zimbabwe today. Such indicators tell something about the education outcomes, education system performance and the factors that influence those outcomes. Below is a diagnostic process with four steps that is followed in this study:

1. analyze public expenditures 2. analyze benchmark education outcomes 3. probe the underlying causes of performance 4. make policy recommendations

These broad measures have been broken down into specific indicators:

1.3.1 Analyzing expenditure

♦ public spending as % of GDP ♦ public spending on basic education ♦ public spending on higher education

1.3.2 Key education outcomes

Primary and secondary education completion rate o percentage of children who attend and complete primary education o promotion rate o dropout rate o pupil/teacher ratio o staff qualification Gender disparity in education enrolments o primary completion rate for girls o ratio of girls to boys in primary school

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o number of girls out of school o Examination results are used as control variables

The major limitation of the study is that of data availability. The CSO and the relevant ministries in charge of the education portfolio do not have data for 2002. This therefore limits the analysis to year 2001. Comparison with the base year 1997-99 is done for the years 2000 and 2001 only.

The report is structured into six sections. The second section provides a brief

background on the education system in Zimbabwe. Section three makes an assessment of the current state of the economy. Section four carries an evaluation of the status of the education sector. Section five attempts to identify any performance changes using data from sections three and four. The last section is the conclusion and policy recommendation section.

2. National Educational System in Zimbabwe

This section provides a brief background to the education system in Zimbabwe. The education system in Zimbabwe is divided into five levels namely, pre-school, primary, lower secondary, higher secondary and tertiary education. These levels are described separately in this section. 2.1 Pre-School

Pre-schools fall under the Early childhood Education and Care (ECEC) program. Individuals, organizations, local authorities or communities privately own some. Presently, the Government provides small grants-in-aid. Pre-school education is now integrated in basic education and accommodates children in the 3 to 5 year age group and are operated as nursery schools, crèches or play centers depending on the children’s ages. Most of the pre-schools are found in urban areas, but are now spreading to rural areas.

The administration and supervision is shared between the two ministries of Education, Sport and Culture and Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. The former caters for the 3-6 year age group while the latter ministry caters for the children in age group 0-3 years.

From 1995 to 1999 the number of ECEC centers increased from 7962 to 8602, an increase of about 8.0 percent. More than half of these centers, are not registered with the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture. For the country the total enrolment in 1999 was 411 851. Table 1: Number of Early childhood Education and Care (ECE) Centers and Enrolments by Province, 1999

Number of centers Enrolments Province Registered Unregistered Total Registered Unregistered Total Manicaland 434 700 1 134 26 469 27 736 54 205

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Mash central Mash East Mash West Masvingo Mat. North Mat South Midlands Harare

288 335 280 563 693 399 467 58

617 428 326 880 283 343 1 203 305

905 763 606 1 443 976 742 670 363

23 231 21 960 17 279 23 194 28 137 15 935 36 684 3 184

26 469 23 240 18 357 28 999 26 947 17 491 431 84 3 355

49 700 45 200 35 636 52 193 55 084 33 426 79 868 6 539

Total 3 517 5 085 8 602 196 073 215 778 411 851 2.2 Primary Education

The official primary school age is 6-12 years but under-age or over-age pupils can be found in primary schools. Primary education is a 7-year cycle and operates on the principal of automatic promotion. A 100 percent enrolment expected from the universal primary school education has not been achieved so far because some parents still do not send their children to school. At the end of grade 7, pupils sit for an examination, which is used as an entrance into lower secondary school. 2.3 Secondary Education

Secondary education in Zimbabwe comprises of the following: i) A four-year Ordinary Level (‘O’ Level) cycle, where the official entry age is 13

years. There is unimpeded progression to the Ordinary Level cycle, although some schools might set selection criteria based on grade 7 examinations. At the end of the first two years of Ordinary level three used to be the Zimbabwe junior Certificate Examinations (ZJC) until 1999. At the end of four years (Form 4), students sit for Ordinary (‘O’) Level examinations. Figure 1.1 shows the movement of students after ‘O’ Level.

‘A’ Level

Technical colleges ‘O’ Level Agricultural Colleges Teachers Colleges Apprenticeships Labour Market Movement of students after ‘O’ Level

ii) The progression to Advanced Level (‘A’ Level) cycle is based on pass grades at

‘O’ Level. The duration for ‘A’ Level is two years and comprises Lower and Upper Sixth Forms (Forms 5 and 6). ‘A’ Level is a prerequisite for university entry in Zimbabwe. The ‘A’ Level graduates can also enroll in other institutions of higher or post secondary education such as teachers and agricultural colleges for which minimum entry qualification is ‘O’ levels (See figure 1.2). Facilities for higher secondary education, are very limited compared to those at other levels.

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Universities Technical colleges ‘A’ Level Agricultural Colleges Teachers Colleges Apprenticeships Labour Market

Movement of Students after ‘A’ Level 2.4 Non-Formal Education

This refers to Evening, Day and Study Groups. The Government and Private Institutions run evening classes. In government run schools, the individuals pay very minimal amounts of fees and are supplied with all educational materials. In private institutions, the individuals pay tuition while the respective institution may supply tuition material. Non-formal education has significantly expanded due to dropouts and repeaters who fail to get places at formal institutions.

However this current report focuses on primary, secondary and higher education only. Pre-school and non-formal education are only discussed in passing. The section that follows discusses the state of the economy in Zimbabwe to provide the economic background to the performance of the education services sector. 3. State of the Economy 1997 to 2002

Macroeconomic and fiscal policies determine the rate and volatility of a country's economic growth and the labor intensity of the activities that drive that growth. As noted earlier these policies have profound impact on the education system. First, the overall level of spending on education is largely determined by the public expenditure decisions. Second, and perhaps more important, the rate and pattern of economic growth govern the returns to education, which affect individual schooling decisions.

For the past 6 years starting with the crush of the Zimbabwe dollar in November

1997, the state of the economy has been characterized as an economy in crisis. A number of factors have been cited as contributing to the current economic crisis. On the domestic front, the awarding of huge pay-outs in 1997 to veterans of the liberation war which led to independence in 1980, the invasion of white owned large-scale commercial farms in 2000 and the discrepancy between policies and their implementation are cited. External factors include the pulling out of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund balance of payment support and the withdrawal of almost all Non Governmental Organisations' support. The floods and drought that hit the country between 2000 and 2002 compounded these factors.

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The compound effect of the above factors saw the export sector contracting by an estimated cumulative 30% over the 6 years from 1997 to 2002. Imports, the bulk of which are industrial inputs, declined by 45%. The country’s net reserves (gold at 50%) fell suddenly from US$253 million in 1996 to negative US$419 million in 1997 prompting the crash of the Zimbabwe dollar in 1997, before they increased to negative US$274 million in 1999. The shortage of foreign currency as a result of declining net export competitiveness continues to deepen whilst the demand for and value of import continue to rise affecting attempts at the rebuilding the country’s foreign exchange reserves and negatively impacting on national income.

It is common knowledge that national budget deficits exceeded 10% of GDP in the 1980s and early 1990s. However in 2000, it reached it's highest of 24% of GDP. The deficit has been financed largely from the domestic financial market. This, together with declining industrial imports, has adversely affected the productive capacity of the economy. And despite the resultant contraction of the economy, money supply growth rate has continued to surge from 14.1% in 1998 to an estimated 90% in 2001.

The resultant situation has been GDP decline of 8.6% in 2001, hyperinflation currently at 228% and high unemployment of around 70%. A fall in disposable incomes, employment opportunities and industrial activities are the outcomes of such an economy. More and more people slip into the poverty datum line. Also observed are the shortage of products on the domestic product markets, decline in export competitiveness, and quick erosion of the allocations assigned to the social sectors in the 2002 national budget. De-industrialization as more firms downsize or terminate operations altogether and continued outflow of the country’s productive capital compound the above problems. The closing down or scaling down of operations by more firms does not only lead to growing unemployment, but also to a shrinking tax revenue base for the government. Statistics show that tax revenue as a percentage of total revenue has been increasing slightly throughout the 1990s and fell slightly there after as shown here: 87.4% (1993/94), 91.5% (1996/97), 92% (1997/98), 94.9% (1999), 92,9% (2000, Jan – Sept).

The sustainability of government support to the social services sectors, education included becomes questionable. Also under threat is the ability of the population to pay for the fees, school uniforms and in certain circumstances, books for their school going children.

The economic conditions that produce the strongest impact in education seem to be missing in the current economic set up. Has this crisis situation affected the education services sector? Section 4 assist in answering this question by providing an evaluation of the current state of education.

4. The State of the Education Sector in Zimbabwe

This section looks at the pattern of public expenditure on education and the education outcomes using the indicators outlined in sub-section 1.4.

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4.1 Government Spending on Education

One important indicator that allows year on year comparison of the amount of resources that are allocated to education services is the percentage of Education expenditure as a percentage of Gross National Product. Over the 1990’s decade education services’ share of resources has experienced ups and downs. The first for years of the decade registered an upward movement during the first two years before dropping in 1993 to levels below the 1991 share. There was a rise in the allocation in 1994. This upward trend was maintained for four years up to 1997 when the share of education services reached its pick of 9.0%. The share plummeted since then to register 8.3% in 1998 and 6.2% in 1999. However, 2000, which was a general election year, the share of education expenditure rose phenomenally, to a pick of 9.3%. Unlike in the base years (1997 to 1999) when the fall to 6.2 was gradual and over two years, the fall from 2000's 9.3% to 2001's 6.3% was steep and sudden. Table 2: General Government expenditure on Education as a Percentage of Gross National Product (GNP), Zimbabwe 1991-2001 Year Gross National Product

In Z$ million Education Expenditure As a percentage

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

28 644 32 985 40 877 53 754 58 965 82 621 98 012 134 208 197 066 345 785 523 765

6.3 6.6 4.2 6.4 6.9 7.8 9.0 8.3 6.2 9.3 6.3

Source: CSO (2001) The distribution of the education vote gives us an insight into who gets what share of the resources between primary and secondary level, higher education level and the university level. The analysis can be done at two levels: absolute figures and relative terms. Table 3 shows that more money is spent on primary and secondary education than on higher education and universities. From 1991 to 1999 the vote for primary and secondary education has been on an upward trend. The same trend is observed for the higher education. Although the universities budget followed this trend there was a sharp drop in 1999.

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Table 3: Central Government: Fiscal Expenditure by Education Vote, Z$’00 1990/91 – 1999/2000

Year Primary and Secondary

Higher Education

Universities

1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998 1999 2000 2001

1 444 697 1 692 222 2 103 051 2 409 481 3 252 583 3 995 668 5 708 710 - 9 072 971 9 616 669 25 585 362 26 070 950

115 636 137 296 218 472 271 442 455 697 528 617 795 368 - 1 375 812 2 172 359 6 719 469 7 095 790

94 154 119 961 166 000 252 000 323 000 416 252 498 239 - 733 492 333 485

Source: CSO (2001) In relative terms the picture seems to be a little different. The years from 1996/7 the share of the education vote allocated to primary education decreased steadily from 82% in 1996/7 to 79% in 1999. This similar percentage was maintained for the 2000 and 2001 schooling years. A similar trend can be observed for the university education, which received 7% of the vote in consecutive years and fell steeply in 1999 to 4% of the vote. The biggest beneficiary was higher education. Their share rose from 11% of the vote in 1996/7 to 12% in 1998 and sharply to 17% in 1999. Although the vote for higher education and university level was not broken down from 1999 it can be inferred that the share for higher education remained around 17% of the education vote. Expenditure per student averaged 19.3 % of GDP per capita for primary level and 34.6 % for secondary level. The trend seems to suggest that the expenditure per student increase as the level of education go up. Although there is no data for tertiary education for 1997, data for the three levels in 1980 confirms the above. 4.2 Education outcomes

This sub-section analyzes data on education outcomes to infer on the quality of education for the period under review. The information basically demonstrates the completion rate in primary and secondary schools. To compliment data on education outcomes analysis is done of data on staff establishment, qualification and the brain drain. also assesses the quality of the education system.

4.2.1 Enrolment at Primary Level

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Primary school enrollment is broken down by, grades and sex. Variations in enrolment are observed for each grade from year to year between 1990 and 2001. No consistent pattern can be discerned from the data. However it is clear that enrolments generally decreased from lower grades to higher grades. To illustrate this point enrolment was 387 600 in 1990 before dropping to 252 000 in grade seven. This translates to 135 600 pupils dropping between grades one and seven in 1990, 116 621 in 1997, 122 822 in 1998, 86 907 in 1999, 105 000 in 2000 and 134 933 in 2001. This implies that at the end of each grade some children are dropping out or do not finish the grade in which they would have enrolled. The same table shows that male enrolments remained higher than female enrolments. This may be an indication of some form of sex preferences, in sending children to school. To test this finding, drop out and the promotion rates should be consistent with the enrolment rate i.e. girls’ drop out rate is higher than that of male students or their promotion rate is lower than that of boys. Table 4: Primary School Enrolment by Grade and Sex, 1990-2001 Grade Sex 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

Male Female Both Male Female Both Male Female Both Male Female Both Male Female Both Male Female Both Male Female Both

218 261 213 728 431 989 188 839 182 664 371 503 179 037 175 047 354 084 174 943 170 151 345 094 168 949 166 468 335 417 165 865 164 184 330 040 159 290 156 078 315 368

218 728 210 087 428 815 191 829 185 621 377 450 180 624 176 592 357 216 172 913 168 634 341 547 171 591 165 849 337 440 169 297 164 687 333 975 156 125 149 868 305 993

202 649 195 341 397 990 190 582 183 401 373 983 182 675 178 010 360 685 172 949 170 250 343 199 167 131 163 716 330 847 169 424 163 567 332 991 160 046 151 037 311 083

211 360 204 779 416 139 182 088 176 045 358 133 180 895 176 174 357 069 174 344 171 194 345 538 168 187 165 134 333 321 166 503 161 398 327 901 161 681 149 458 311 139

226 839 219 055 445 894 184 676 178 949 363 625 176 403 170 867 347 270 173 241 170 693 343 934 179 023 167 710 346 733 167 355 164 213 331 568 160337 150 624 310 961

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TOTAL Male

Female Both

1 259 888 1 965 005 2 491 361

1 265 177 1 057 913 2 488 939

1 251 533 1 045 074 2 460 323

1 251 921 1 208 748 2 460 323

Source: Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture

Table 5 shows the promotion rate for primary schools for the years up to 1999 only. The information is given by year, grade and sex. Promotion rate is defined as the number of pupils who advanced to the next stage, in a cycle of schooling at the terminal point in a level of education expressed as a percentage of total enrolment of the previous grade or stage of schooling. Generally promotion rates to grade six are higher than for other grades. Table 5: Promotion Rates for Primary Schools, 1990/91 – 1998/1999 Grade 1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 M F B M F B M F B M F B M F B M F B M F B M B Two Three Four Five Six Seven

95 101 102 103 106 101

93 100 101 101 106 103

94 101 101 102 106 102

86 95 94 95 97 93

90 96 96 97 99 92

88 95 95 96 98 93

90 96 96 97 100 107

89 96 97 97 99 98

98 96 96 97 100 102

87 103 104 105 107 109

87 104 105 104 105 104

87 104 104 105 106 106

90 96 90 91 94 94

90 98 91 91 94 92

90 97 90 91 94 92

89 95 96 97 101 98

88 95 96 98 100 97

88 95 96 98 100 97

88 95 95 97 99 95

87 97 96 97 99 95

88 96 96 97 99 95

88 96 97 98 100 94

8 9 9 9 9 9

87 96 96 98 100 93

Notes: M-Male F-Female B-Both Sexes Source: Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture

Promotion rates for females are consistently higher than for male students. This means that once enrolled fewer female students than male fail to proceed to the next stage of primary education. This means that if there is sex preference in enrolment there should be other reasons to explain why male students fail to advance to the next stage more than female students. While this trend is so for the grades one to six, promotion rates for females tend to be below those of their male counterparts when it comes to advancing to grade seven. This disturbing trend can be observed for the years 1997/98 and 1998/99. No data was available for the 2000 and 2001.

Drop out rate can assist to further explain the position of the girl child. Drop out rate is the number of pupils who leave school before completing a stage of schooling in a cycle of education, expressed as a percentage of total enrolment of the previous grade or stage of schooling. Table 6 shows that drop out rates were generally highest for grades 1-2. For grades 6-7 the high drop out rate of 8.2% occurred during the period 1994-95. Grades 1-2, 3-4 and 4-5 also had significantly high drop out rates of 10.2, 10.0 and 8.8 respectively.

Although figures show that the general trend is that drop out rates for males are higher than that for females, data from table 6 show that grades 1-2 are an exception. Except for 1991/92 and 1998/99, dropout rates for females were higher than that for boys. For grades 6-7 the male drop out rate becomes lower than the female. The differential

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margin even widens particularly for the base-years of 1997/98 and 1998/99. While the issue of sex preference could not be substantiated conclusively on the basis of enrolment figures, promotion and drop out rates for grade six to seven show that female students are affected in one way or the other. Data for 2000 and 2001 was not readily available. Table 6: Dropout Rates in Primary schools by Grade and Sex, 1990/91 – 1998/99 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 Grade 1-2 Male Female Both Sexes Grade 2-3 Male Female Both Sexes Grade 3-4 Male Female Both Sexes Grade 4-5 Male Female Both Sexes Grade 5-6 Male Female Both Sexes Grade 6-7 Male Female Both Sexes

12.2 12.6 12.4 5.2 3.3 4.3 4.8 3.5 4.2 3.4 2.6 3.0 0.6 1.4 1.0 5.5 4.6 5.1

12.1 13.2 12.6 4.4 3.3 3.8 3.4 3.7 3.5 1.9 2.5 2.2 -0.2 1.1 0.4 5.9 8.7 7.3

12.9 12.7 12.8 4.8 4.1 4.4 4.2 3.6 3.9 3.3 2.9 3.1 1.3 1.4 1.3 5.5 8.3 6.9

Total Male Female Both Sexes

61 120 53 101 11 4221

53 854 61 000 114 854

62 175 61 480 123 655

Source: Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture

4.2.2 Primary school Pupils per Teacher Ratio 1990-2000

The drop in the number of the teaching staff has an impact on the pupil teacher ratio. The pupil/teacher ratio measures the quality of education based on the level of intake of pupils and teachers. The recommended primary school pupil teacher ratio is 40 pupils to 1 teacher. The ratio for most of the 1990s was consistently below 40. The ratio

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for the base years has been consistent at 39 for the first two years (1997 and 1998) before jumped by two percentage points to 41 in 1999. A teacher pupil ratio of 37 and 38 were recorded in 2000 and 2001 respectively. A drop of 7% in the number of teachers between 1998 and 1999 and a slight drop in enrolment during the same period resulted in the high teacher/pupil ratio of 41 in 1999. However it can not be explained from the data available why there was such a big drop in the number of teachers in this particular year. Nonetheless figures for 2000 and 2001 show a considerable improvement in the quality of education compared to the base year. Table 7: Primary School Pupils per Teacher Ratio, 1990-2001 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

2001 Ratio 35 39 39 39 40 39 39 39 39 41 37

38 Source: Ministry of Education, sport and culture

4.2.3 Primary School Teachers

In 2000 the primary education system had about 66.4 thousand teachers, a rise of 8.9% from 61 000 in 1990. However, the education system experienced a drop in the number of teachers in 1991, 1997 and 1999 when compared to the respective previous years. In 2001 the primary school teachers had increased to 66 529.

4.2.4 Primary School Teacher Qualifications

Table 8 indicates that Zimbabwe’s primary school education system had a teaching staff composed of 52% males and 48% female. Most of the teachers (88%) were trained (i.e. graduate certified and non-graduate trained), while 12% were untrained. Male teachers constitute more than half of the trained teachers (52%).

Table 8 also shows that in 1999 the non-graduate, non-trained teachers constituted about 0.6% of the total number of teachers for the whole country. The low percentage can be attributed to the teacher training institutions developed over the years since 1980 and is an indication of the quality of instructors and education in the country. Table 8: Percentage Distribution of Non-graduate Non-trained Teachers by Province, 1999 Province Total No. of Teachers % Non-graduate non-trained Manicaland 6 015 0.6

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Mash. Central Mash. East Mash. West Mat North Mat. South Midlands Masvingo Harare

11 181 7 304 6 817 7 415 4 156 9 355 9 123 6 015

0.5 0.4 0.2 0.5 0.3 1.5 0.4 0.4

Total 66 440 0.6 4.3 Secondary School Enrolments, Promotion Rates and Dropouts Rate

Figure 1 provides information on the enrolment in secondary schools by form and sex for years between 1990 and 2000. The data show a general upward trend in secondary school enrolments. However lower levels were recorded in 1992 and 1993 probably due to the effects of the Economic Structural Adjustment Program and the drought. From 1997 the enrolment figures increased consistently from 788 604, 829 977, 834 880 in 1997, 1998 and 1999 respectively to 844 183 in 2000 and 866 171 students in 2001. Table 9 shows that large enrolments are in form one but decrease in higher levels of education possibly due to dropouts. The largest dropout take place on transition from form 4 to form 6, possibly due to selection criteria, financial constraints and other possible markets for ‘O’ Level such as labour markets, technical/teacher vocational colleges. Up to the year 2000, proportions of females to the total enrolment remain less than half for form 1 to upper 6. However a slight increase in the proportion of females is noticeable from the second half of the 1990s to 2001 for almost all the forms. Figure 1: Secondary School Enrolment, 1990-2000

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Year

Enro

lmen

t

4.4 Promotion Rates for Secondary Schools

Figure 2 illustrates that the 1999/2000 promotion rates for males were higher than that for females. For all levels promotion rates for 1999/2000 were all above 80 except for form 4 to lower sixth.

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Table 10: Promotion Rates for Secondary Schools 1990/91 – 1999/2000 Year Level M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T Form 1 Form 2 Form 3 Form 4 Lower 6 Upper 6

94 96 96 8 98

90 93 97 8 114

92 95 96 8 104

85 89 86 7 97

84 85 80 5 76

85 87 83 6 89

89 94 90 8 103

89 91 82 5 103

89 93 86 7 103

92 96 92 8 98

92 90 85 7 106

92 94 89 8 101

94 101 96 8 95

92 95 91 7 91

93 98 94 8 94

92 97 94 9 98

91 94 89 7 100

92 96 92 8 99

92 95 90 8 91

92 92 86 7 87

92 94 88 7 89

93 98 93 8 101

92 93 88 7 99

93 96 91 8 100

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4.5 Secondary Schools Pupils per Teacher ratio

The recommended pupil teacher ratio differs with each level at secondary school level as follows: Form 1 and 2 33 pupils as to 1 teacher Form 3 and 4 30 pupils as to 1 teacher Form 5 and 6 20 pupils as to 1 teacher

The pupil/teacher ratio was 24 in 1990, reached a pick of 28 in 1991, 1992, 1996 and 1997. It stabilized at 27 in 1998 and 1999 before dropping to 25 in 2000 and further to 24 in 2001. There was improvement in the quality of education as given by this indicator in 2000 and 2001 as compared to the base year. Table 11: Secondary School Pupils per Teacher ratio, 1990-2001 Year 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

2001 Ratio 24 28 28 26 26 27 28 28 27 27 25

24 Source: Ministry of Education, Sport and culture 4.6 Secondary School Staffing

The number of secondary school teachers increased from 27 500 in 1990 to 34 163 in 2000, a percentage increase of about 24 before jumping to 35 416 in 2001. There was a consistent increase of teaching staff since 1993. The number of secondary school teachers by sex, qualification and province in 2000, shows that out of the 34 163 teachers in Zimbabwe, 28% were graduates while 72% were non-graduates. Sixty three percent of all teachers were males while 37% were females. A small number of about 944 teachers were non-graduates and non trained. This number was reduced to 790 in 2001. The high quality of teaching staff can not be disputed. 4.7 Impact of Brain Drain

Statistics on the economically active emigrants by occupation and sex, 1998-2001 shows that a number of teaching staff has left the country for greener pastures. The number of teacher emigrants increased from 165 in 1998 to 210 in 1999. From 2000 the number rose to 352 before it reached 407 in 2001. Teachers have recorded the highest number of emigrants in 2001 from the professional, technical and related workers category. The number however seem to be too small to have an impact on the teacher/pupil ratios, whether at primary or secondary level.

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4.7 Higher Education

Universities, technical and teacher training colleges are the main institutions offering higher education in Zimbabwe. Higher education refers to those studies, which have a specialist component and include degree/diploma courses, agricultural training, nurse training and all kinds of technical training. 4.8 University Education

There has been an increase in university enrolments following the opening of new universities in Zimbabwe. Currently there are not less than ten universities. Enrollment figures currently available are from five universities and are for the base year (1997-99). Total enrollment for the five universities reach 13 868 in 1997 before dropping to 11 451 in 1998 and increasing again to 13 696. University of Zimbabwe contributes more than 80% to total university enrollment. The male/female ratios vary from one university to the other. The highest male/female ratio is at Solusi University with 0.92 followed by Africa University (0.73), UZ (0.48), Bindura University (0.26) and NUST (0.14). 4.9 University Staff

According to the Report of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education, Sport and Culture 2001, the University of Zimbabwe had a vacancy rate of 30%. In some Faculties such as Medicine the vacancy rate was 50% and Sciences 28%. This is mainly attributed to low salaries for academic staff. To illustrate the point the committee observed that virtually all the academic staff cash in their leave days to make ends meet. The high cost of leaving which characterized the period between 1997 and 2002 have made the situation worse. The university has been forced to close not less than three times during this period. Data on vacancy rate from other public universities was not readily available, although the situation at UZ is reflective of the situation at other public universities. 4.10 Technical Colleges

Tables 12 to 16 (see appendix) provide information on enrollment by type of college, sex and year. A noticeable feature from three of these tables (12; 14 and 15) is that enrollment decreased in year 2000 compared to base year. Enrolment of female students to these colleges (Agriculture, Vocational and Technical colleges) is persistently well below 50%. This is in contrast to the other two types of colleges, the Teachers and Nursing Colleges. Intake increased consistently since 1997 and females students constitute more than 50% of the enrolment at teachers' colleges and almost 100% at nursing colleges. Policy intervention should focus on the first three colleges with a view to increasing the number of female students enrolled at these colleges. 2001 data will be helpful to the trend of enrolments at these colleges. Without this data it is difficult to arrive at any substantive conclusions.

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5. Interpretation of Results This section assesses the quality of the education system in Zimbabwe using the data analyzed in section 4. Comparisons with data from other countries would compliment the above. Policy areas that need intervention and areas of performance change are also identified. 5.1 Rational for public finance of education

The high private rates of return to education investments at all levels justify large investments by individuals and families. Notwithstanding these high private returns, there is also a case for public intervention, especially for basic education. This is prudent for a number of reasons. First is income distribution (more equal distribution of education is a powerful agent for income equality). In the second place is capital market imperfection, which make it hard to borrow for education, especially at the lower levels of schooling, despite the high return. Last but not least are externalities (that is, benefits that accrue not only to the direct recipient of schooling but also to society at large).

Externalities appear to be highest for basic education. In other words, the wedge between the pay off captured by an individual investing in schooling and the benefits from the same investment that accrue to neighbors, off spring, or society at large appears largest for basic education and smallest for higher education. The rationale for public financing of education is that, because of this wedge, private investment alone will be sup optimal. Other justifications include the development of political and social cohesion through public education. 5.2 System efficiency

Governments are the major funders and providers of education in most countries, including Zimbabwe, even though the economic case for public financing of education does not necessarily mean it should be publicly provided.

Public spending on education across the world range from as little as 1% to as much as 10% of GDP, and from 10% to 40% of total government spending. Zimbabwe was ranked highest in Africa at 9% of GDP in 1997. Although it fell thereafter to 6.3% in 2001 it remained one of the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. While international comparisons show that aggregate expenditure on education nearly always increases with GDP and education outcomes broadly improve with education expenditures, these correlation are sometimes loose. Wide variations exist in education outcomes and spending efficiency across countries with similar income and/or education spending levels. Mali and Sri Lanka both spend between 2 and 3 percent of GDP on education, but in the one country the student population completes less than 2 years of schooling, while in the other, more than 11years. While Zimbabwe and Lesotho spend about 10% of their GDP on education, the completion rate for Zimbabwe is 114% and that of Lesotho is 55% (World Bank 2002). Analyzing such performance differentials can help identify the policies that produce the best educational outcomes per unit of expenditure.

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The first step is to analyze expenditure by level of education. Cross country

comparisons of expenditure shares across levels, unit costs, and costs per graduate can provide a useful picture of the relative emphasis placed on primary versus secondary and university education and the relative efficiency of these segments of the education system, compared with other countries. It is not clear whether the shift in expenditure pattern observed from 1999 in Zimbabwe is based on such comparisons or on other considerations such as the need to create self-employment (unemployment is estimated at 70%) or meeting the demand for acute shortage of skilled labor in technical areas.

The most helpful benchmark usually are data from other countries at a similar

level of GDP, and especially those known to have well-performing education systems. Such cross-country comparisons can help countries address three questions: Should aggregate spending on education be increased (that is, is overall education spending relative to GDP lower than in comparable countries)? Is there scope for improving allocative efficiency by shifting public funding across levels of education - for example from higher education, where the wedge between public and private benefits is smallest to basic education, where it is largest? Is internal efficiency low - for example, are aggregate spending and allocations across levels broadly parallel with other countries but results within levels, such as costs per graduate, worse- calling for policies to improve the effectiveness with which resources are used?

5.3 System Quality

The allocation of resources across different functional areas is important, as it

affects the quality and performance of the education sector. A key concern is often relative limited allocations for non-salary current needs. In Zimbabwe, the bulk of expenditure on education 91.1% as at 1997, went to pay gross salaries and other benefits. Very little went into buying the basic inputs of the education process, equipment and materials. There is typically a bias toward expenditure on salaries rather than non-salary inputs such as books and learning materials that at the margin contribute more to student attainment and learning. However, further breakdown, reveal relatively heavy expenditures on salaries of non teaching staff (administrative) relative to teaching staff. The two factors could explain why the education results are not improving regardless of the improvement in the teacher /pupil ratios and increase in the number of qualified teaching staff (for results see Education Statistics Reports). 5.4 Education Outcomes

5.4.1 Demand for Education Achieving universal, primary education completion rate is a key long-term goal

for any developing country. The indicators that were analysed in section four to capture this outcome, included enrollment, promotion rate and drop out rate. Observations were that enrollment for girls was lower than for boys for all grades and the gap increases at

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secondary level. This is the case although national population statistics show that females constitute the majority in all age groups. Preferential treatment based on gender can not be denied. Parents unable to afford the direct costs of keeping all children in school often choose to keep their daughters at home to perform household chores, or because of safety concerns or because educating their sons is perceived to bring greater benefits to the immediate family than educating daughters.

Another disturbing feature coming from data analysis is that the dropout rate for

boys at the lower grades is higher than for girls. The promotion rate is lower at these grades for boys than girls. Students may drop out because of the fact that or perception that the quality of teaching and learning at school is low or because there are more rewarding alternatives to schooling. In essence they drop out when the direct and indirect costs of staying in school exceed the expected benefits. The case of orphans and others who end up in the streets are a case in point. Much more alarming is the fact that drop out rates for girls surpass that of boys at grades six and seven. The promotion rate also is lower in these grades for girls. Statistics point to even higher drop out and lower promotion rates in 2000 and 2001. While parental and community attitudes that undervalue education, especially for girls and household poverty can be blamed for dropouts and low promotion rates in general, the failure to complete grades six and seven by girls may not be explained by these factors alone. Although it may appear trivial, the issue of birth certificates for the girl child needs to be looked at. Birth certificates is one important condition for sitting for grade seven examinations.

Compared to other developing countries Zimbabwe's completion rate is

commendable. Enrolment is almost 100%, primary completion rate is 116% and 111% of boys and girls respectively. These figures, which are for the year 2000, surpass the average for middle income countries and for Sub-Saharan Africa which are 59% and 48% for boys and girls respectively. Youth illiteracy rates (ages 15 to 24) for Zimbabwe in 2000 is also impressive and point to a well supported basic education system. The rate is 1% and 4% for boys and girls, well above the middle income countries at 4% and 6% for boys and girls respectively (World Bank 2002). However the fact remains that the girl child lags behind and more policy interventions are required in this area.

5.4.2 Supply Constraints

High rates of enrollment show that supply side constraints are not an impediment to learning in Zimbabwe. The main factors of the supply side that affect education outcomes are generally shortage of physical infrastructure (school buildings and classrooms) and/shortage of teachers. These were over come by increased investment into construction of schools and the involvement of communities in school building construction and into training of teachers as shown in section four. Where problems of classroom constraints were identified, double-shift schooling, particularly in urban areas and multi-grade schooling, in rural areas were practiced.

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6. Conclusion and Recommendations

Policies that affect macroeconomic condition and the labor market in a country shape education. The economic analysis in section 3 amply demonstrates this point. A mismatch developed between the economy and the education system as a result of the economic policy developed between 1980 and 1999. The phenomenon of unemployment and/or underemployment of university graduates, secondary school and tertiary education graduates is a clear sign that education system in Zimbabwe has expanded ahead of the economy. This reflects a huge cost to society from inefficient investments in education. However attempts seem to have been made since 1999 to produce employable graduates by shifting the budget towards tertiary education, which focuses on developing skills in key sectors and equip the population to generate own employment through income generating projects.

Public expenditure on education in Zimbabwe as a percentage of GDP is among

the highest in the world. However the allocation of resources across different functional areas does not prioritize teaching material and suggest that teachers are made to subsidize government. As was the case up until 2003 teachers earned far less than all other professional categories within the civil service. This also goes for lecturers in tertiary and universities. The quality of education is likely to improve further if teachers are rewarded for their services. Instead of spending much of their time in classrooms, currently teachers are forced to engage in other activities to supplement their incomes. The high emigration rates for teachers, is a clear sign that all is not well in this profession. The impact on the teacher/pupil ratio nonetheless is marginal.

Policy interventions are required to improve the enrollment of the girl child at all

levels of schooling starting with the primary level. Specific interventions are also needed to mitigate the high dropout rates and the low promotion rates for boys between grades 1 and 6 and for girls between grades 6 and 7. Analysis needs to go further and probe the impact of HIV/AIDS and other catastrophic family health problems. This is necessary because dropout is correlated with repetition, which shifts the cost-benefit ratio. The primary school completion rate of well over 100% shows that most of those who would have dropped out do at one point, repeat and possibly complete primary education. 6.1 Policy Recommendations

Areas that require policy intervention in Zimbabwe are listed below: • Stabilize the macroeconomic environment • Establish a Graduate Investment Fund to promote self-employment

generation by graduates from tertiary institutions and universities • Salaries and condition of service for lecturers, teachers in general and for

those in remote and rural areas should be improved • Increase budgets for teaching materials • Stakeholder empowerment in schools affairs should be encouraged

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• Target stipends for girls, and children of the street and street children • Labor saving technologies, water points, and community childcare

facilities to ease girls' household work • Involve mothers in school committees • Expand the BEAM program to cater for school fees to the girl child • Make school calendar compatible with local economic activities • Introduce school health and nutrition program

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REFERENCE African Development Indicators, 2002, The World Bank, Washington DC. Education Statistics Report, 2001, Central Statistical Office, Harare.

Hanushek, E.A; and Kimko, D.D; 2000, Schooling, Labour Force Quality and the Growth of Nations. American Economic Review 90 (5). Macroeconomic and Sectoral Approaches: A Sourcebook for Poverty Reduction Strategies, 2002, Vol. 2. The World Bank.Washington DC. Masuko, L, 2002, Managing Scarce Foreign Currency in Zimbabwe: The Potential of Agriculture to Widen the Forex Base. IDS Bulletin, Issue 2. University of Zimbabwe. Musoro, L, 2002, Contemporary Challenges and Prospects of the Zimbabwean Economy, Poverty Reduction Forum, Harare. Oakes, J; 1986, Educational Indicators: A Guide for Policymakers. Occasional Paper No. 1. Center for Policy Research in Education. Rutgers University, USA. Parliament of Zimbabwe, 2001, First report of the Portfolio Committee on Education, Sport and Culture. Harare. Porter, M; 1998, Microeconomic Foundation of Competitiveness: The Role of Education. Transcript of Speech given to the World Bank Conference. Ritzen, J; Easterly, W; and Woolcock, M; 2000, On "Good" Politicians and Bad Policies: Social Cohesion, Institutions and Growth, The World Bank, Washington DC. World Development Indicators, 2002, The World Bank, Washington DC.

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APPENDIX Table 12: Agricultural Colleges Enrolment 1997-2000 Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 Male 312 385 406 254 Female 160 181 145 136 Both Sexes 472 566 551 390 Source: Ministry of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Table 13: Enrolment in Teachers’ Colleges, 1997-2000 Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 Male 9452 9280 8355 7506 Female 9449 9773 9802 8886 Both Sexes 18901 19053 18157 16392 Source: Ministry of Higher Education and Technology Table 14: Enrolment in Technical Colleges, 1997-2000 Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 Male 11887 12099 12040 11488 Female 5390 4866 5406 4181 Both Sexes 17277 16965 174466 16306 Source: Ministry of Higher Education and Technology Table15: Enrolment in Vocational Training Colleges, 1997-2000 Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 Male 445 479 772 1062 Female 13 30 201 141 Both Sexes 458 509 973 1203 Source: Ministry of Higher Education and Technology Table 16: Number of Graduate Nurses by Type of Qualification, 1997-1999 Year 1997 1998 1999 SRN 862 787 847 SCN * * * Midwives 316 318 361 Total 1178 1105 1208 Source: Health Professional Council

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