Zimpapers Logo

Monica C. Mpambawashe Creative Editor
Mark Zuckerberg is one of the richest people in the world. But, he is a school dropout who left college before he got his first degree. He is not the only one.

There are a number of successful people in every strata of life without any educational credentials worth of note.

But they are the exception rather than the rule. For the majority of global citizens whose dream in life is to get a good job or be an ordinary entrepreneur, a good education is a requisite. In our society, education is meant to build the base for meritocracy which then ensures that the best talents rise to the top.

Even for athletes and those in the entertainment industry, a good education base is important for building successful careers.

Musician Bob Nyabinde speaks of how the late Oliver Mtukudzi would sometimes drop in at the school where Nyabinde was heading and give pep talks to learners.

Tuku always emphasised the need for education in order for one to be able to make sense out of contracts, or other people would end up enjoying the benefits of an artists’ sweat

Which is why many parents and guardians are having nightmares on just how they are going to educate their children.

The sky rocketing school fees set for Term 1 2020, mean a downgrade for many scholars. Parents and guardians will extract learners from schools that are now beyond their reach and put them in lower ranked schools.

For example, children in trust schools are likely to end up in non-trust private institutions and mission schools.

Learners in mission schools and private colleges will be trying to squeeze into public schools. While in the public school set up, those in former Group A schools will be downgrading to former Group B and rural schools.

Elite schools are likely to relax their strict enrolment requirements as they move to fill in the gaps created by those who can afford their services, rather than the ideal candidates that they normally gun for. For example, most mission schools target the most academically gifted learners and good athletes with a view to producing sterling O’ and A’ Level results.

But in the current scenario they are likely to lower qualification standards and take average learners and even before average learners to ensure viable enrolment.

This can be taken as a positive development as it is the opinion of many that these schools take undue accolades for good results in public exams, yet they would have creamed off the best learners. There has been some outcry over how some of these schools take learners with the best Grade Seven results, then reject those same learners when they don’t do so well at O’ Level. These same schools go on to recruit A’ Level learners from other institutions.

Meanwhile, the picture is bleak at the bottom, in the public schools. As it is in most of them, classes are large with some going up to more than 60 learners, while 50 is considered a standard size. With an influx of learners from private institutions and trust schools headed for the public system, the increased strain on resources means that standards can only go lower.

Textbook sharing ratios, teachers with staff welfare issues, inadequacy of teaching and learning aids are just a few of the challenges. It is clear that Government must find ways of ensuring that the public education system is equipped to deal with expected rise in demand.

Personally, I advocate a return of the hot seating system which was effectively abolished in most institutions a long time ago.

I believe that hot seating ensures delivery education to more learners using existing facilities, since it is a given fact that there is very limited money to build new schools or invest in existing ones to create greater capacity.

Yet most classrooms lie unutilised in the afternoons. Savings on administrative costs could be channelled towards resourcing learning. Textbooks and other resources like athletic grounds and computer labs could serve more learners.

In addition, with larger numbers buying the same product, school uniforms should be cheaper. This is a discussion for another day on just whether uniforms should really be such a high cost to education.

School operations and developments are mostly funded through fees and levies, with more learners in one institution, development would be faster because of the bigger levy collection pool. Whatever challenges there were with the hot seating system can be reviewed and solved to make sure that it runs smoothly. The system worked for a long time and can be made to work again. Because all children deserve a chance to get a good education, whatever the future may hold for them.