A Comparative Analysis of the Quality of Primary Education in Zimbabwe by School Type

Abstract

This study investigates differences in the quality of primary education offered by five different school types. 6927, Grade 7 pupils who wrote national examinations in 86 schools in November 1990, their teachers and heads of schools participated in the study. The evidence in this study shows that there are significant differences in the quality of primary education offered by the different school types in Zimbabwe. Three levels of quality education were identified, namely high quality education offered by high fee paying schools and government former group A schools, average quality education offered by low fee paying schools and government former group B schools, and low quality education offered by rural community schools. Major causes of the differences in the quality of education include differences in levels of instructional resources such as textbooks, pens and pencils, chalk and library books; differences in the number of trained and qualified teachers; large school sizes and teacher-pupil ratios in the poorly resourced schools; heavy teaching loads for teachers in the poorly resourced and administered schools, and differences in academic emphasis, especially in mathematics. A number of policy options are recommended in order to raise the quality of education in the disadvantaged schools: a.increase government per capita grants to disadvantaged schools to increase the acquisition of instructional resource; b.improve housing and amenities in rural schools in order to attract and retain qualified teachers c. intensify staff development of untrained teachers in order to improve the quality of teaching in diadvantaged schools; d. improve the management and supervision of schools by providing adequate and financial resources and transport, and e. reduce teacher-pupil ratios to facilitate effective implementation of the intended curriculum