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Bulawayo Bureau

INFORMATION technology servers are to be set up in rural schools by the Government to enable schools to access textbooks virtually as part of efforts to tackle challenges associated with the shortage of reading material, a contributory factor to a low pass rate.

The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) last week released Ordinary Level results showing that the pass rate was at 29 percent.

Over the years, the pass rate issue has sparked debate as it has shown that the majority of the learners were failing to acquire five Ordinary Level passes with a Grade C or better.

In an interview, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Torerai Moyo said Government is concerned with the low pass rate in schools.

He said it has become evident that the worst of the pass rate was recorded in rural schools. 

Minister Moyo said while learners in urban schools have fully embraced online learning, the situation is different for rural learners as they are still struggling to access reading material.

“Learners have no access to the internet and that has contributed to the low pass rate. We are, however, aiming to improve that,” he said.

“We have contacted some development partners who are coming on board to ensure that we are going to provide online learning in the rural areas including those remote areas without internet connectivity.

“We will provide a server so that every child within a radius of 200 metres has access to notes, and e-books from the server.”

Minister Moyo said the teaching and learning material would be uploaded to the server and the pupils will also be able to submit assignments on the same platform.

He said the shortage of teachers is also contributing to low pass rates as some schools are operating with a huge teacher-to-pupil ratio. 

Minister Moyo said while the pass rate remains below the 50 percent average, Government is satisfied with the commitment shown by teachers in delivering education. 

“We are very happy and excited that the pass rate is increasing yearly and it’s a reflection of the hard work by our teachers. However, 29 percent is not good enough, and we would expect 50 percent of the learners to pass,” he said.

Minister Moyo said Government in partnership with Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is set to pour out US$1,2 million to support the registration of 250 schools that are almost complete in construction.

“We are going to disburse US$5 000 this term to those schools that are at least 80 percent complete. If a satellite school is close to registration, we are going to give it financial support from GPE,” he said.

“We are targeting 250 schools by the end of the first term to have received, and if we manage to register 250 schools we are going to unlock more funds. 

“It means the following year we would have 500 schools that are going to benefit.”

Minister Moyo said Government also commended the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for reaffirming its commitment to build more schools across the country.

He said Bulawayo and Matabeleland South are expected to benefit from the partnership with the church which has already built several classroom blocks in schools in Bulawayo.

Minister Moyo said the church had a programme to drill 100 boreholes across the country with each province getting 10.

He invited investors to construct schools as the country has a deficit of 2 800 learning institutions.

“Remember we have a shortage of schools to the tune of 2 800. We want partners to come on board including individuals who have money to build boarding schools. Last year, those who wrote Grade Seven examinations were 275 000 learners, with 25 000 boarding facilities available, which shows that there is a gap,” said Minister Moyo.

“We are calling upon individuals to construct their own schools and privatise those schools. What we don’t want is a mission school to start thinking of privatising.”

The minister also warned teachers against teaching extra school lessons for money, saying they risk facing disciplinary action.

He said the ministry has received reports that some teachers are coercing parents and guardians to pay extra lesson fees so that they teach their children.