Not long ago, the South African weekly, The Sunday Times, published a report showing that a sizeable number of government ministers and officials had enough confidence in the countrys education system to send their children to public schools.No prizes for guessing what the findings would be if a Zimbabwean newspaper undertook a similar survey. The corrupt one-party government that has held the nation hostage since 1980 presided over the deliberate dismantling of national institutions and infrastructure.
The ministers serving in this authoritarian regime could afford to turn a deaf ear and blind eye to the hardships, retrogression, deprivation and national frustration that their destructive policies caused because they remained unscathed themselves. After the deliberate ruination of agriculture, the education and health systems, for example, they still sported over-fed physiques, could send their children to study abroad and get medical treatment in other countries for themselves and their families.
This I am alright, Jack ethos has cost the nation dearly in that even situations that could be re-visited and easily corrected have been allowed to get out of hand in the name of proving the wisdom, steadfastness and infallibility of certain individuals.
But as has been proved over and over, it is futile to be on the right track if you are moving in the wrong direction. The Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) debacle proves this beyond doubt.
ZIMSEC was set up to replace examining bodies such as Cambridge University and the Associated Examining Board which enabled Zimbabwean students to acquire universally recognised credentials at both ordinary and advanced levels.
The setting up of ZIMSEC was touted as a principled move to enable Zimbabwe to take control of educating its own young people and preparing them to make their own way in the world. But regrettably, this inefficient body has spawned a prolonged downward spiral that will be difficult to reverse.
Each time, students and parents are never sure whether examinations can actually be staged. ZIMSEC has been such a letdown because of corruption, inefficiency, examination leaks and questionable invigilation and marking that the academic credentials the students obtain are frowned upon.
Parents who can afford it still pay for their children to write externally set examinations .The majority are victims of this self-immolating whim to re-invent the wheel.
The authorities could easily remedy the situation by reverting to externally set examinations until an efficient local system is established but that is not the Zanu (PF) way. The hallmark of this backward-looking party is to block any attempts to correct its ruinous policies even under the unity government. This spells doom for the nation.
Word for Today
When the righteous thrive, a city rejoices, and when the wicked die, there is joyful shouting. A city is built up by the blessing of the upright, but it is torn down by the mouth of the wicked. – Proverbs 11, vs 10-11
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga