A new report by Save the Children suggests that many teachers are being forced to spend their time scraping together enough to survive rather than returning to their schools. This, combined with the country’s food crisis, is likely to deprive many of the country’s 4.5 million school-age pupils their education, with severe consequences for the country’s future.
Zimbabwe’s education system has completely disintegrated over the last year.
As late as 2007, 85% of children were still going to school. By the end of 2008, attendance was already down to around 20%, and figures are likely to drop even further. Of 300 teachers, parents and pupils interviewed by Save the Children, teacher pay, hunger and lack of stationery were identified as the three biggest problems keeping children out of the classroom.
Schools that do re-open, particularly those in urban areas, will pose a significant risk for cholera infection, as many have little or no access to clean water and no money for disinfectant or cleaning materials. Cholera has killed nearly 2,500 people in Zimbabwe, many of them children.
Rachel Pounds, Save the Children’s country director in Zimbabwe, said: "Less than ten years ago Zimbabwe had the best education system in Sub-Saharan Africa, with nearly every child going to school. Now a majority of children are out of school and the system is in tatters.
"Pupils and teachers who do make it back to the classroom could be faced with an increased threat of cholera. Sanitation is now so bad in schools that they may become a breeding ground for infection unless there is more money made available to put precautions in place.
"A generation is at risk of growing up without any education in Zimbabwe, and that will have catastrophic consequences for the country’s recovery."
The food crisis in Zimbabwe has had a disastrous effect on children’s attendance rates. 5.1 million people are now dependent on food aid to survive in Zimbabwe, and thousands of children are forced to spend their days working, scavenging or begging for food rather than getting the education that is so vital for their development.
The country’s raging inflation means that the current teacher salary, around
35 trillion Zimbabwe dollars per month, is now only enough to buy a few loaves of bread, with the value decreasing every day. With no funds to buy chalk, pens or paper, and often little ability to feed their families, many teachers are now forced to spend their days trying to find enough money to get by.
By the end of last year, an estimated 30,000 teachers had already dropped out of Zimbabwe’s education system, with at least 10,000 now living in South Africa. For the 70,000 thought to be still in the country, morale is rock-bottom and a significant proportion are inexperienced or untrained.
Save the Children’s research shows that pupils are increasingly subject to corporal punishment and exploitation by teachers unable to cope with deteriorating conditions, scant resources and lack of support.
Ms Pounds continued: "Lack of education may not be life-threatening in the short term, but in the long-term it can kill. Already in Zimbabwe one in ten children die before the age of five. The single biggest factor that affects child mortality is whether mothers are educated.
"Children in Zimbabwe are going hungry and many have already lost family or friends. With classes closed, children feel they have no hope. They want to learn, be with their friends, take exams and create a future for themselves.
"The world must act now to get children back to school before a generation of children lose their education. With money for school feeding programmes, basic stationery and teacher support packages, aid organisations like Save the Children can help get classes going and pupils learning within weeks."
Save the Children is running a major emergency response in Zimbabwe, and will be supporting schools by distributing text books, stationery and cleaning materials, as well as providing vital cholera prevention training for teachers and pupils.
To donate to Save the Children’s Zimbabwe appeal, go to www.savethechildren.org.uk
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