Zimbabwe to adopt phased free primary education policy

Zimbabwe will adopt a phased free primary education policy starting next year as part of the government’s efforts to ensure education for all.

Speaking during the Independence Day Celebrations, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that the government will continue promoting the teaching of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in schools.

“The school financing policy will see the equalization of opportunities for a higher quality of education for all learners throughout our country. A phased free primary education system will also be settled from 2023,” Mnangagwa told a cheering crowd.

“Given that the level of development of a nation is depended on the teaching and adoption of science, technology and innovation, resources will continue to be channelled towards expanding the availability of the teaching of science and related infrastructure to all the schools and institutions in the country,” said Mnangagwa.

Before independence in 1980, access to education in the country was heavily skewed along racial lines.

Soon after independence, government sought to correct this by making education a basic human right and changing the constitution to recognize primary and secondary public education as free and compulsory.

The southern African country’s literacy rate soared to over 90%, making it one of the highest in Africa.

After the Structural Adjustment Program of 1992, all goods and services were priced at market value and education ceased to be free. As a result, many households have been under increasing economic strain to pay for school fees.

The education system in Zimbabwe encompasses 13 years of compulsory primary and secondary education.

CGTN/Olajumoke Adeleke