Zimbabwe’s young generations are struggling with basic literacy, a new education report warns — revealing that the country’s poorest children are still being left behind.
The Spotlight Report on Foundational Learning in Africa, launched by the African Union, UNESCO, and the African Centre for School Leadership today in Ghana shows that only one in six Zimbabwean children who finish primary school can read or do basic maths at minimum proficiency.
Zimbabwe’s dismal rate is above the continental average of one in ten.
“The most concerning element is not just that learning levels are so low, but that systems are operating in the dark. When only 20% of countries have national assessment frameworks in place, it means the vast majority lack the clear learning objectives required to drive targeted reform. Until countries invest in robust data and clear targets, even the most dedicated school leaders will continue fighting this crisis with one hand tied behind their backs,” said Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring Report, UNESCO.
The findings are even more alarming when combined with dropout rates: about 22 percent of the poorest children never finish primary school at all, and among the remaining 78 percent who do, only one in six emerges functionally literate and numerate.
In other words, barely 30 out of 100 poor children leave primary school able to read or calculate confidently, underlining that poverty remains the biggest barrier to learning in Zimbabwe — and a glaring contradiction to the national mantra of “leaving no one and no place behind.”
Zimsec results directly reflect this reality with rural schools performing the worst. The report notes several deficiencies in the country’s systems: “Zimbabwe does not have a textbook policy in place for primary school, and does not provide teacher guides for mathematics or reading, helping teachers to implement the curriculum and achieving learning objectives.
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The report praises Zimbabwe for having five of six key school-leadership policies in place, but notes that 78 percent of headteachers say paperwork and financial management take precedence over teaching and learning.
“Headteachers told us they are clerks, teachers and accountants all in one,” said Manos Antoninis, Director of UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report. “We are demanding instructional leadership while burying principals under a mountain of forms.”
The report also notes that Zimbabwe’s school-feeding programme remains one of the continent’s strongest, reaching two-thirds of all primary-school pupils and fully funded by government.
The report credits it with improving attendance and concentration among learners from food-insecure communities.
“Access without learning is a betrayal of hope,” the report concludes. “It is not enough to open the school gate; children must also walk out of it literate and empowered.”
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