GUNS
&ROSES
MAY 2021
3.2 Education
Knights who who careth not!
The right to education is guaranteed in the Constitution of Zimbabwe in Section 75.
Section 75 (1)
Every Citizen and Permanent Resident of Zimbabwe has a right to;
(a)
A basic state-funded education, including adult basic education;
(b)
and (b) Further education that the state must make available progressively through laws, and
other measures
Section 75 (4) - The state must take reasonable legal and other measures, within limits of the resources
available to progressively realize the right to education.
The government, as the guardian of people’s rights, has an obligation to ensure that the right to
education is fully realised and protected.
Zimbabwe recently adopted the Education Amendment Act, 2020, to align its Education Act with the
country’s Constitution. The amendment is a result of consultations about how every child could realise
the right to free basic education.
However, this right is far from being fully realized considering that government has reneged on its
obligation to ensure that learning spaces and environment are accessible and conducive.
A 2013 education infrastructure audit exercise found that the country had a deficit of over 2000 schools,
a requirement that government has not met, eight years later and the situation is made worse by the fact
that the same government is failing to provide adequate remuneration for teachers.
Our Observations
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the serious inequalities in the education sector as the few elites
have managed to ensure their children continue with their education using online platforms while the
rest, who are the majority, have been greatly affected by the long school breaks and even when they
have had to attend school, the infrastructure is inadequate with some classes having up to 60 students.
The law provides for the rights of pupils with any disability. It is of great concern that the law places the
responsibility on schools– not the state – to provide infrastructure for learners with a disability and this is
subject to the availability of resources.
A majority of schools are financially constrained and have dilapidated infrastructure.
Learners with disabilities may have to wait until there are resources to give them access to educational
infrastructure and services.
Once again, it shows the lack of commitment by government to provide equal access to education for
students with disabilities.
Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) are very important and access to SRHR facilities and
services is critical and is covered in the Education Amendment Act, which also states that there is
supposed to be a sexual and reproductive health personnel at every school.
However, there is no regulation specifying who qualifies to be appointed to this role and this has
budgetary implications for the government and as it stands there has been no commitment of funds
towards that.
In many rural schools, clinics or health facilities are not easily accessible.
Government must take practical steps to move from rhetoric to reality
It is the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s policy that no child should be sent home from
school for non-payment of fees.
However, it is the role of government, according to the Education Amendment Act, to provide learners
with resources and facilities for learning, but again, this is subject to the availability of state resources.
Essentially and technically, the government could delay the realisation of the right on the basis of not
having the required funds.
This has been noted countrywide, and there has been policy inconsistences that have solely been a
result of government’s failure to meet its obligation to provide resources for leaners.
Instead, they choose to splurge funds on vehicles and monuments.
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