Newsday
25 February 2013
The Student Solidarity Trust (SST) notes with deep concern that the Zimsec November Ordinary Level results released recently indicated that the pass rate had dropped from 19,5 to 18,4%.
The Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) has announced that 172 698 pupils sat for the November/December “O†Level examinations and only 31 767 pupils got passes in five subjects or more.
In the wake of these pathetic results there have been a lot of finger-pointing, blame-shifting and insufficient explanations as to why we ended up with such a pass rate.
The Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart acknowledged the drop in the pass rate was a clear indication that much still needs to be done in the education sector, but attributed the poor results to the crisis that beset the education sector before the formation of the government of national unity. Some experts have suggested the setting up of a commission of enquiry to investigate the problems affecting the education sector.
Since 2006, the Student Solidarity Trust has been compiling annual reports titled “Inside the Pandora’s Box: State of the Education Sector in Zimbabwe†to highlight the challenges being faced in the education sector. The publication has been used as a lobbying and advocacy tool to various stake holders with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Education as a key stakeholder.
The SST maintains that before we can entertain suggestions of coming up with another commission of enquiry, let us implement fully recommendations by the Nziramasanga Commission (1999) on education, as well as recommendations coming from researches that have been conducted in the sector before.
Let us strive to be efficient in implementing such recommendations rather than showing commitment and consistency in finding out the problems through commissions of enquiry and research. This is the time for all who are progressive in the education sector to bring their heads together and avoid burying their heads in sand in typical ostrich problem-solving mentality, to attend our education empire which is burning.
The November/December “O†Level results show that Zimbabwe education sector is engulfed in an inferno and only radical changes within the sector will help put out the fire. Of course, this problem can never be solved by using the same level of thinking that created it.
Last but not least, the SST wishes to remind the Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister that soon it will be November again and more than 172 698 pupils will be sitting for examinations and the results will be the testimony of what your ministry would have done to attend the challenges crippling the education sector.
The nation will not continue to tolerate further drops in the pass rate.
For more information, feel free to call the Student Solidarity Trust on 0772 003 755, 0772 950 682 or 0772 864 572. You can also visit our website, www.studentssolidarity.org or visit our offics at 19 Tredgold Drive, Belverdere, Harare.
“Providing demand driven solidarity to the students community and beyond.â€