User:Reillybrooks/sandbox

== Gender inequality in Nepal Overview ==

First, I would like to change the name from “Women’s rights in Nepal” to “Gender inequality in Nepal.” Through further review of articles covering gender inequality and women’s rights, I want to change the name of the article because it will better represent content on the page with a section covering legal rights of women. This article will focus more on existing inequalities and societal changes for gender equality as well as violence against women in Nepal. This reconceptualization of the topic may enable me more room to expand on systematic inequalities at the institutional, local and household level rather than the legality of people. Ultimately, while discussing policies and laws, this article will mainly focus more on the lived experiences and reality of gender relations in Nepal. 

I plan to recreate the “Gender Inequality in Nepal” page to encompass topics that are covered on other countries’ women’s rights, gender inequality and equality pages since women’s rights is not only about dismantling systematic inequalities, but also the growth of women in familial, social, economic and political spheres overtime. 

HISTORY

Traditional Role of Women

The People's War

The political conflict in Nepal, known as the People's War from 1996 to 2006, was catalyzed by the Maoist Communist Party, the CPN-M, is opposition of the monarchy and economic stagnation, high unemployment, poor education, impoverishment, continuing discrimination and an increasing gap between the elite and the rest of the country. The political infighting, corruption and slow progress drew in support from disenfranchised groups, including women, for the CPN-M promised to end the feudal monarchy, nationalize the state's resources and redistribute wealth. Women believed that a struggle for democratic rights should also be a struggle for women's rights, demanding for legal equality, political participation and socioeconomic empowerment. The CPN-M submitted a 40 point set of demands to the government in 1996, with one demand specifically on the equality of women: "Patriarchal exploitation and discrimination against women should be stopped. Daughters should be allowed access to paternal property." The opposition became an insurgent movement, causing an armed conflict. The All Nepal Women’s Association (Revolutionary) was formed through the CPN-M to organize grassroots campaigns against caste and gender discrimination throughout the war, encouraging women to become action oriented and participants in the insurgency. Women were political activists and guerilla soldiers, making up 40 percent of the militia, as well as victims of sexual violence. After a decade of conflict, over 13,000 people died and over 200,000 were displaced.

The insurgency ended with the November 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement by the Government of Nepal and the CPN-M and an interim government that included the Maoists was established. In December of 2007, Nepal abolished the monarchy and was declared a republic. When elections were help in April 2008, this was the first vote in Nepal for over nine years. Maoists vote a majority of the seats, which qualified them as the largest party in the constitutional assembly at the time. The new constitutional assembly held in May 2008 officially ended the 240-year rule of monarchy in Nepal. An unprecedented number of women and people from marginalized communities won seats in this new constitutional assembly.

New Constitution

The Constitution of Nepal 2015 was established in response to the decade-long conflict of the People's War, claiming that Nepal will adopt federalism. The ratification of the constitution was fast-tracked in order to fulfill a decade old peace commitment and focus on reconstruction in response to the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The new document established the boundaries of seven states, but controversy surrounds whether Nepal should be ethnically delineated. Deependra Jha, a Supreme Court lawyer based in Kathmandu, claims that there is unequal representation, stating that "the electoral system needs to be reformed. State No. 2, with a population of 5.4 million, and state No, 6, with a population of 1.5 million, will each have equal representation of eight seats. The hill-dominated political class has gerrymandered on boundary issues to ensure that Khas Arya [the upper caste hill people] remain a majority in six out of seven federal states." Parliament is now elected by a smaller proportional representation than before, 45 percent compared to 58 precent after the People's War. The proportional representation system has promoted equal representation of indigenous and low-caste groups get elected.

In regards to women, the constitution denies the ability for women to pass citizenship onto their children, but men have virtually no barriers to pass citizenship onto their children. A foreign spouse of a Nepali man can obtain Nepali citizenship soon after the marriage; however, there is no such provision for foreign spouses of Nepali women. Thus, single Nepali women or those married to a foreign spouse, are not able to pass citizenship onto their children, which creates a growing group of statelessness children without access to the rights and privileges such as education and health care. Therefore, 2.1 million people will remain stateless and that number is expected to grow.

Familial inequality

Decision making in the household

Women's autonomy in household decision-making is less than mens, and such power to make decisions is associated with women's ethnicity, deprivation level, urban/rural classification, education, and number of living children.  Women from middle and richer class as well as women in more orthodox Hindu communities are typically confined to domestic labor and thus have the least decision-making power. Remote, poor and rural women experience more autonomy in household decision-making because of their involvement in income generating activities, adding a significant contribution to family income. Thus, contribution to family income creates more perceived equality between women and men as equal partners.

Dowry

In a typical South Asian marriage, the brideís family transfers a large sumó up to several multiples of annual household incomeó to the groomís family

is another aspect of women's empowerment, and it can be done by supporting them in entrepreneurship, including improved access to property and economic assets, training, microfinance and markets

Women in the more orthodox Hindu communities, who are largely confined to domestic and subsistence production, were found to play a less significant role in major household economic decisions than

which suggests involving them in education and decent employment to lessen their dependency on the family members and husband/partner. In the household, husband-wife relations are central to women's autonomy in decision making, and improved communication between them can deserve sustained support. 

Economy

Women dominate subsistence agricultural economy because half of men are involved with seasonal migration in rural communities.

Current bibliography and outline

1.    History

1.1 Traditional role of women

·     Aguirre, Daniel, and Irene Pietropaoli. "Gender equality, development and transitional justice: The case of Nepal." International Journal of Transitional Justice 2, no. 3 (2008): 356-377.

·     Tamang, Seira. "The Politics of Developing Nepali Women''." Perspectives on modern South Asia: A Reader in culture, history, and representation (2011): 280-288.

1.2  The People’s War 

·     Tamang, Seira. "the politics of conflict and difference or the difference of conflict in politics: the women's movement in Nepal." Feminist Review 91, no. 1 (2009): 61-80.

·     Rai, Neetij. "Constitutional Development of Gender Equality Issue in Nepal." (2010).

·     Mahat, Ishara. "Women’s development in Nepal: The myth of empowerment." PRAXIS The Fletcher Journal of International Development 18 (2003): 67-72.

·     Enslin, Elizabeth Mary Winona. "The dynamics of gender, class and caste in a women's movement in rural Nepal." PhD diss., Stanford University, 1990.

1.3 2015 constitution            

·     Nowack, Susann. “Gender Discrimination in Nepal and How Statelessness Hampers Identify Formation.” Statelessness Working Paper Series, 2015.

·     Haviland, Charles. “Why is Nepal’s new constitution controversial?” BBC News, 2015. 

2     Global rankings

·     I will cite rankings from the Gender Inequality Index and the Human Development Index while comparing it to indexes encompassing South Asia, Asia and the world.

3     Legal status

3.1 Property rights

·     Allendorf, Keera. "Do women’s land rights promote empowerment and child health in Nepal?" World development 35, no. 11 (2007): 1975-1988.

·     Gilbert, Kate. "Women and family law in modern Nepal: Statutory rights and social implications." NYUJ Int'l L. & Pol. 24 (1991): 729.

3.2  Citizenship

·     Laczo, Mona. "Deprived of an individual identity: citizenship and women in Nepal." Gender & Development 11, no. 3 (2003): 76-82.

·     Pant, Bijan, and Kay Standing. "Citizenship rights and women's roles in development in post-conflict Nepal." Gender & Development 19, no. 3 (2011): 409-421.

4     Political participation

·     Falch, Ashild. "Women’s political participation and influence in post-conflict Burundi and Nepal." Peace Research Institute Oslo: Oslo (2010).

·     Ulvila, Marko, and Farhad Hossain. "Development NGOs and political participation of the poor in Bangladesh and Nepal." Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 13, no. 2 (2002): 149-163.

5     Economic inequalities

·     Lama, Anupama, and Marlène Buchy. "Gender, class, caste and participation: The case of community forestry in Nepal." Bulletin (Centre for Women's Development Studies) 9, no. 1 (2002): 27-41.

·     Acharya, Meena, and Lynn Bennett. "Women and the subsistence sector. Economic participation and household decision making in Nepal." (1983).

·     Lokshin, Michael, and Elena Glinskaya. "The effect of male migration on employment patterns of women in Nepal." The World Bank Economic Review (2009): lhp011.

·     Seddon, David, Jagannath Adhikari, and Ganesh Gurung. "Foreign labor migration and the remittance economy of Nepal." Critical Asian Studies 34, no. 1 (2002): 19-40.

6     Education inequalities

6.1  Schooling

·     Stash, Sharon, and Emily Hannum. "Who goes to school? Educational stratification by gender, caste, and ethnicity in Nepal." Comparative Education Review 45, no. 3 (2001): 354-378.

·     Burchfield, Shirley, Haiyan Hua, Dyuti Baral, and Valeria Rocha. "A Longitudinal Study of the Effect of Integrated Literacy and Basic Education Programs on Women's Participation in Social and Economic Development in Nepal." (2002).

·     Heward, Christine, and Sheila Bunwaree. Gender, education and development: Beyond access to empowerment. Palgrave Macmillan, 1999.

6.2  Literacy

·     Robinson-Pant, Anna. "Women and literacy: A Nepal perspective." International Journal of Educational Development 20, no. 4 (2000): 349-364.

·     Burchfield, Shirley, Haiyan Hua, Dyuti Baral, and Valeria Rocha. "A Longitudinal Study of the Effect of Integrated Literacy and Basic Education Programs on Women's Participation in Social and Economic Development in Nepal." (2002).

7     Health inequalities

7.1  Healthcare

·     Jimba, Masamine, Amod K. Poudyal, and Susumu Wakai. "The need for linking healthcare-seeking behavior and health policy in rural Nepal." (2003).

·     Jacobson, Jodi L. "Womens health: the price of poverty." (1993): 3-31.

7.2  Maternal and reproductive health

·     Furuta, Marie, and Sarah Salway. "Women's position within the household as a determinant of maternal health care use in Nepal." International family planning perspectives (2006): 17-27.

·     Simkhada, Bihha, Edwin Van Teijlingen, Maureen Porter, and Padam Simkhada. "Major problems and key issues in Maternal Health in Nepal." Kathmandu University Medical Journal 4, no. 2 (Iss (2006): 258-263.

·     Waszak, Cynthia, Shyam Thapa, and Jessica Davey. "The influence of gender norms on the reproductive health of adolescents in Nepal--perspectives of youth." (2003): 81-85.

·     Chapagain, Matrika. "Conjugal power relations and couples' participation in reproductive health decision-making: exploring the links in Nepal." Gender, Technology and Development 10, no. 2 (2006): 159-189.

·     Ranabhat, Chhabi, Chun-Bae Kim, Eun Hee Choi, Anu Aryal, Myung Bae Park, and Young Ah Doh. "Chhaupadi culture and reproductive health of women in Nepal." Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health 27, no. 7 (2015): 785-795.

·     Bhandaree, Roshi, Binita Pandey, Manisha Rajak, and Pramila Pantha. "Chhaupadi: victimizing women of Nepal." Scientific Committee of Reviewers (2013): 141.

7.3  Child health

·     Acharya, Laxmi Bilas, and John Cleland. "Maternal and child health services in rural Nepal: does access or quality matter more?." Health Policy and Planning 15, no. 2 (2000): 223-229.

·     Joshi, Arun R. "Maternal schooling and child health: preliminary analysis of the intervening mechanisms in rural Nepal." Health Transition Review (1994): 1-28.

8     Familial inequality  

8.1  Decision making in the household

·     Acharya, Dev R., Jacqueline S. Bell, Padam Simkhada, Edwin R. Van Teijlingen, and Pramod R. Regmi. "Women's autonomy in household decision-making: a demographic study in Nepal." Reproductive health 7, no. 1 (2010): 15.

·     Acharya, Meena, and Lynn Bennett. "Women and the subsistence sector. Economic participation and household decision making in Nepal." (1983).

8.2  Dowry 

·     Oshiro, Azusa, Amod K. Poudyal, Krishna C. Poudel, Masamine Jimba, and Tomiko Hokama. "Intimate partner violence among general and urban poor populations in Kathmandu, Nepal." Journal of interpersonal violence 26, no. 10 (2011): 2073-2092.

·     Rankin, Katharine N. "Cultures of economies: gender and socio-spatial change in Nepal." Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography 10, no. 2 (2003): 111-129.

8.3  Child marriage

·     Choe, Minja Kim, Shyam Thapa, and Vinod Mishra. "Early marriage and early motherhood in Nepal." Journal of Biosocial Science 37, no. 02 (2005): 143-162.

·     Raj, Anita. "When the mother is a child: the impact of child marriage on the health and human rights of girls." Archives of disease in childhood (2010): archdischild178707.

·     Warner, Elizabeth. "Behind the wedding veil: Child marriage as a form of trafficking in girls." Am. UJ Gender Soc. Pol'y & L. 12 (2004): 233.

9     Violence against women 

9.1  Sexual violence

·     Puri, Mahesh, Iqbal Shah, and Jyotsna Tamang. "Exploring the nature and reasons for sexual violence within marriage among young women in Nepal." Journal of interpersonal violence 25, no. 10 (2010): 1873-1892.

·     Puri, Mahesh, Jyotsna Tamang, and Iqbal Shah. "Suffering in silence: consequences of sexual violence within marriage among young women in Nepal." BMC Public Health 11, no. 1 (2011): 29.

·     Lamichhane, Prabhat, Mahesh Puri, Jyotsna Tamang, and Bishnu Dulal. "Women's status and violence against young married women in rural Nepal." BMC women's health 11, no. 1 (2011): 19.

9.2  Sex-selective abortions

·     Lamichhane, Prabhat, Tabetha Harken, Mahesh Puri, Philip D. Darney, Maya Blum, Cynthia C. Harper, and Jillian T. Henderson. "Sex-selective abortion in Nepal: a qualitative study of health workers' perspectives." Women's Health Issues 21, no. 3 (2011): S37-S41.

·     Abrejo, Farina Gul, Babar Tasneem Shaikh, and Narjis Rizvi. "‘And they kill me, only because I am a girl’… a review of sex-selective abortions in South Asia." The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care 14, no. 1 (2009): 10-16.

9.3  Human trafficking 

·     Poudel, Pratima, and Jenny Carryer. "Girl-trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and the position of women in Nepal." Gender & Development 8, no. 2 (2000): 74-79.

·     Richardson, Diane, Meena Poudel, and Nina Laurie. "Sexual trafficking in Nepal: constructing citizenship and livelihoods." Gender, Place & Culture 16, no. 3 (2009): 259-278.

·     Sarkar, Kamalesh, Baishali Bal, Rita Mukherjee, Sekhar Chakraborty, Suman Saha, Arundhuti Ghosh, and Scott Parsons. "Sex-trafficking, violence, negotiating skill, and HIV infection in brothel-based sex workers of eastern India, adjoining Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh." Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition (2008): 223-231.

10  Mobility

·     Lokshin, Michael, and Elena Glinskaya. "The effect of male migration on employment patterns of women in Nepal." The World Bank Economic Review (2009): lhp011.

·     Emran, M. Shahe, and Forhad Shilpi. "Intergenerational Occupational Mobility in Rural Economy Evidence from Nepal and Vietnam." Journal of Human Resources 46, no. 2 (2011): 427-458.

·     Stash, Sharon, and Emily Hannum. "Who goes to school? Educational stratification by gender, caste, and ethnicity in Nepal." Comparative Education Review 45, no. 3 (2001): 354-378.

Education in Zimbabwe

Google Document with Wikipedia Proposal about editing the article "Education in Zimbabwe." [1]

Most updated page:

Education in Zimbabwe is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education for primary and secondary education and the Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development for higher and tertiary education. Both are regulated by the Cabinet of Zimbabwe.^[3] The education system in Zimbabwe encompasses 13 years of primary and secondary school running from January to December. The school year is a total of 40 weeks with three terms and a month break in-between each term.^[4]

In 1980, education was declared a basic human right by Robert Mugabe, the leader of the ZANUparty that changed the constitution to recognize primary and secondary public education as free and compulsory. ^[5] One of Zimbabwe's Millennium Development Goals was to achieve universal education for all students; however, the goal was not achieved as of 2015. The country is currently workings towards the Sustainable Development Goal of providing universal and free education to all students by 2030.

Contents

 [hide] 

• 1 History
  • 1.1 Colonial government to 1980
  • 1.2 National education reform in 1980
  • 1.3 1980s and 1990s
  • 1.4 2000s to present
• 2 Governance
• 3 Education stages
  • 3.1 Early education
  • 3.2 Primary education
  • 3.3 Secondary education
  • 3.4 Tertiary education
• 4 Recent factors affecting education in Zimbabwe
  • 4.1 Access to education
  • 4.2 Funding
  • 4.3 Gender disparities
  • 4.4 Teachers
  • 4.5 Textbooks
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 External links

History[edit source | edit]

Colonial government to 1980[edit source | edit]

British settlers arrived in the 1890s to southern Rhodesia, the area now known as Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. They created Christian missionary schools to serve local communities. The colonial government of Rhodesia provided an education for the indigenous population that was focused on agricultural production and industrial development including carpentry, building and agriculture. Researchers claim that in order to control the locals, the colonial government limited education and censored knowledge in schools.^[6] Limits in access to a quality education kept Africans in positions of labor and subordinate to white colonists in order to advance European political and economic gains.^[3] TheEurocentric education system was a structural institution that reinforced the superiority of white settlers even though they were the minority. For example, missionary schools perpetuated social and economic repression of the indigenous population by reducing their chances of earning well-paying jobs or positions of power through offering limited education and foundational skills for labor exploitation and external servitude.^[7]

Europeans were disproportionately offered more educational resources than the majority black population because the colonial government controlled access to quality schools based on race and socioeconomic status.^[8] Segregation of funding and quality of education were most extreme in the 1970s because during that decade Europeans represented one percent of Zimbabwe's population, but were allocated 99% of government spending on education.^[9] There was also unequal access to enrolling in education for blacks. In the 1970s, only 43.5 percent of black children attended school and only 3.9 percent of these children were enrolled in secondary school.^[10]

In 1979, a new Zimbabwe-Rhodesia government called for education reforms by creating a three-tier school system.^[11] The Education Act of 1979 regulated access to each type of school through a zoning system based on residence.^[8] Before the act, Zimbabwe's education system was divided between African and European schools. After the shift in policy, the education system split into government schools, community schools and private schools and split government schools into Group A, B and C. White students historically attended Group A schools that offered highly trained teachers and resources.^[8] These schools were located in white suburbs that denied housing opportunities for blacks, a contribution factor in education disadvantages in segregated schools. Group B, requiring a low-fee payment in suburban areas, and C schools, which do not require a fee beyond educational materials, were only available for African students. These schools had less resources, funding and qualified faculty compared to Group A schools.^[8]

National education reform in 1980[edit source | edit]

In 1980, ZANU party, Zimbabwe African National Union took power over the white, colonial government through the national election. ZANU democratized education by promising free and compulsory primary and secondary education to all children in Zimbabwe becuase the government recognized education as a basic human right.^[12] All primary school tuition fees were abolished after independency.^[12] Dr. Dzingai Mutumbuka was elected the Minister of Education to support Zimbabwe through education reform and keep students in school. The government allocated 17.3 percent of the the total national budget towards education which was considered an "education miracle." ^[12] The climate of the education system changed by focusing on fostering self-sufficient students that are productive, motivated and dedicated citizens.^[13] Zimbabwe's education system reformed to no longer disadvantage blacks by providing primary and secondary education to all children.

1980s and 1990s[edit source | edit]

Through the nation's independence and focus on equal and free education for all, the demand and supply of education increased. Within one year, the education system nearly doubled the number of students it served from 885,801 students to 1,310,315 student in primary and secondary education.^[12] In 1979, there were 2401 primary schools in the country; however, in 1991 the number of primary schools nearly doubled to 4549.^[14]

Teachers were in high demand following Zimbabwe's independency. In the mid 1980s, thousands of refugee children from Mozambiquemigrated to Zimbabwe, causing an increase in the number of children attending public schools and need for teachers.^[15] The Minister of Education brought in teachers from Australia, Britain and Canada for a short period of time to fill the teaching gaps.^[15] Schools expanded their human resources to serve as many children as possible with limited infrastructure by practicing "hot-seating" which means the school offers class in the morning to half of the school and in the afternoon to the other half, also known as double session schooling.^[15] "Hot-seating" was still not enough to meet the demands of the school system; therefore, the Ministry of Education expanded teacher education colleges rapidly by providing "on-the-spot" teacher training.^[15] In 1986, 8,000 additional teachers were trained to meet the demands of the school system.^[12]

Communities also rapidly built more infrastructure for education. For example, from 1979 to 1984, the number of primary schools in operation increased by 73.3 percent and the number of secondary schools increased by 537.8 percent.^[12] Following independence, the practice of "hot-seating," exponential increased the number of students attending school and the need for more infrastructure and teachers, alarming the government of Zimbabwe because of the overwhelming educational demands. Despite the challenges following the magnitude of students to educate, Zimbabwe claimed to achieve universal primary education by the end of the 1980s.^[15] By the 1990s, primary schooling was nearly universal and over half the population had completed a secondary education.^[16]

2000s to present[edit source | edit]

The country's education system was once the most developed on the continent, although it continues to suffer from a contemporary decline in public funding linked to hyperinflation and economic mismanagement.^[17] Economic downturn in the first decade of the 21st century was marked by a period of hyperinflation.^[18] By the end of 2008, most schools and hospitals were shut down due to thousands of teachers leaving the profession, the national government cutting health and educations budgets in half and an outbreak of cholera in 2008 leading to a national epidemic.^[19] UNICEF asserts that 94 percent of rural schools, serving the majority of the population were closed in 2009 and 66 of 70 schools abandoned. During this period of time, the attendance rates plummeted from over 80 percent to 20 percent.^[20] The economy regained momentum after 2009 once an inclusionary government was formed called the Government of National Unity to resolve national challenges.^[21]

Zimbabwe's focus on expanding education opportunities for the past 25 years has lead to national accomplishments including having the highest literacy rate in Africa at 91 percent among people from ages 15 to 24.^[22] As of 2014, 3,120,000 pupils were enrolled in primary and secondary education, 76 percent of these students were enrolled in primary education.^[22] Only 10 percent of pupils ages 15 to 24 have not completed primary education as of 2014.^[22]

Governance[edit source | edit]

After nearly a century of British colonial rule, the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front took over Zimbabwe and formed an independent country in 1980. The newly formed government created free and compulsory primary and secondary education and valued education as a fundamental right.^[23] This fundamental right was clearly articulated in the Education Act of 1987 and all methods of discrimination from the Education Act of 1979 were abolished.

The Education Act of 1996 and again in 2006 established School Development Committees. These committees are overseen and established by School Parents Assembly for parents and guardians of school-going children to participate in the development of Zimbabwe's schools.^[23]According to the government's Statutory Instrument 87 of 1992, the purpose of School Development Committees is to:

• provide and assist in the operation and development of to public schools
• advance the moral, cultural, physical and intellectual welfare of pupils at the school
• promote the welfare of the school for the benefit of its present and future pupils and their parents and its teachers^[23]

School Development Committees have many functions and powers to control the quality of the school system including the recruitment and firing of teachers, preserve facilities and to borrow money and apply for grants.^[23] These committees also decentralized the education system by enabling parents to elect five other parents to lead a school. The decentralization of the schools combats the highly centralized, top-down of the government in hopes to assist the operation and development of education.^[14]

In 2013, the government created the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture to foster social cohesion, economic empowerment and educational development in primary and secondary schools.^[24] The minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture was Andrew Langa untilPresident Mugabe fired Langa in September 2015. Langa was replaced by Makhosini Hlongwan and the ministry has changed to become the Ministry of Sports and Recreation.^[25]

Currently, government primary and secondary schools are ran by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education while non-government schools are ran by local authorities including churches and organizations.^[26] The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education is Lazarus Dokora. The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development oversees public and private universities in Zimbabwe. The minster is Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development is Jonathan Moyo.^[26]

Education stages[edit source | edit]

A list of early, primary, secondary and tertiary schools and providers can be found at Zimbabwe's online school directory. [1]

Early education[edit source | edit]

Preschools are directed by the Early Childhood Education and Care program and offered for children from the ages of three to five.^[27] Early education is available in mostly urban areas and can be owned by the government, organizations or individuals.^[27]

Access to early education has expanded in the past decades.

Primary education[edit source | edit]

List of schools in Zimbabwe

Teacher Loveness Nsingo leads her students in various activities at the old Matau Primary School in Matau village in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's education system mandates seven years of primary school, encompassing Grades 1 to 7.^[28] Urban primary schools teach in english, while in rural primary schools students learn in the native language, typically in Shona or Ndebele, then transition to English by Grade 3.^[4] Student to teacher ratios are typically from 30 to 40 students per teacher and as of 2012 was 36 students per teacher.^[3][29]The curriculum in primary schools encompasses Shona, English, Ndebele, Art, Content and Maths.^[27]

At the end of Grade 7, students take a national examination in Mathematics, English, Shona or Ndebele and a General Paper covering Social Sciences, Environmental Science and Religious Education.^[30][3]Zimbabwe's government system requires education for all, but this examination can determine the type of secondary education students can attend based on the school's criteria.^[3] Private or missionary schools typically have performance requirements, but many rural public schools allow "mass admission" regardless of performance on the examination.^[3]

Secondary education[edit source | edit]

List of schools in Zimbabwe

Secondary education is not funded by the government and students can attend private boarding school, government boarding school or day school all with an enrollment fee.^[3] Secondary Education is made of of two cycles, O-Level, ordinary level, for four years and A-Level, advanced level, for two years.^[3] Students take classes in Mathematics, English, Science, Shona or Ndebele, Geography, and History. The Ordinary Level Certificate Examination is taken after four years in Grade 11 and expects students to pass a minimum of five subjects including Science, English, Mathematics, History and a Practical Subject like woodwork or agriculture.^[30] This examination is ranked on a letter scale and can determine student achievement, selection for A-Level schools and employment.^[3]

Students have the option to enroll in A-Level secondary education or can attend teacher’s training, technical, agricultural , polytechnic, and nursing training colleges. If a student chooses to enroll in A-Level education, they must take the Advanced Level Certificate Examination after six years of secondary education administered by Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council.^[3]

Tertiary education[edit source | edit]

List of Universities in Zimbabwe

The tertiary sector of education is operated by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education which includes universities, technical, polytechnic and teacher training colleges and various vocational training centers.^[3]

Tertiary education was first introduced to Zimbabwe in 1957 by the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, now known as the University of Zimbabwe. The nation's independence in 1980 increased enrollment in the University of Zimbabwe from 2,240 to 9,017 by 1990.^[31] The National Council for Higher Education was established in 1990 as a measure for quality insurance of higher education in the nation. Increasing government access to education in recent decades has increased the number of higher level institutions in the country. For example, eight more universities were established between 1999 and 2005. The Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) was formed in 2006 as another measure to guarantee quality education in recently established universities.^[31]

Recent factors affecting education in Zimbabwe[edit source | edit]

Access to education[edit source | edit]

The current education system faces many challenges, including double session schooling, shared overcrowded classrooms enable more pupils to attend school, but also students are given less attention and time to learn.^[15] With the exponential growth of students in Zimbabwe, the demand for education has resorted to "hot seating," also known as double school sessions. "Hot seating" means that half of students attend school in the morning and the second half attends school in the afternoon.^[15] These measures reduce the amount of time each student is in the classroom, affecting their overall access to education and development.

Funding[edit source | edit]

Zimbabwe's independence prompted an education reform in 1980 to provide free and universal education to all children through the Zimbabwe Education Act. However, tuition fees and education costs have accumulated over time.^[32] Many families pay for tuition even if it is a small fee at public government schools.^[27] Parents that do not pay for tuition due to education subsidies are still required to pay additional fees including building fees, uniforms and stationary for their children.^[7] Education is not completely free in Zimbabwe due to historical government expenditures on providing infrastructure for education and recent years of global economic crisis.^[7]

Gender disparities[edit source | edit]

Although education is accepted as a fundamental right by the constitution, gender disparities in education still exist. Gender differences are less predominant in primary education as it is in secondary education.^[18] As of 2010, 48.8 percent of females achieved secondary education or higher while 62 percent of males achieved secondary education or higher.^[33] Females are increasingly more likely to drop out than their male peers due to early marriages, cost of continuing education and gender-based violence in secondary schools.^[18] Females are considered a source of income through marriage so families are more likely to educate their sons to increase his earning potential. A lack of education for females correlates with development risks including adolescent pregnancy, HIV and AIDs, poor health and poverty.^[33] In times of economic hardship, resources for education are allocated to males more than females due to labor roles and gender expectations.^[10]

Textbooks are a method to analyzing gender relations and roles in Zimbabwe's curriculum. Gender stereotyping is prevalent in textbooks as males are use to describe scientific or technical fields, leadership positions and jobs rather than females. Active and productive roles focus on males while female roles in textbooks are passive and dependent. Researchers found that English language textbooks are written from male perspectives and leave out important female leaders and perspectives in history.^[34]

However, reports from the UN Children's Fund claim that Zimbabwe's gender gap in education is smaller than many other African countries.^[33]

Teachers[edit source | edit]

Thousands of Zimbabwean teachers have gone on strikes, joined teacher unions or left the profession in recent years over low salaries, poor working conditions, political violence and election results.^[35] Teacher unions including the Progressive Teacher's Union of Zimbabwe organize strikes to catalyze salary negotiations and better working conditions. In the first decade of the 21st century, 45,000 out of 100,000 teachers in the country left the profession.^[36][37]

Marked by a time period of hyperinflation, teachers were one of the lowest paid professions, receiving the equivalence of $10 US dollars for every three months of teaching to as low as one US dollar every month.^[36][38] Thousands of teachers protested, left public education and migrated to other countries in response to the economic crisis.^[14] During a year-long strike from 2008 to 2009, teachers demanded higher salaries paid in international currency. This strike led to nearly 94 percent of all rural schools closing and in less than a year school attendance rates fell from 80 percent to 20 percent.^[39]

Many teachers joined the informal economy, or black sector, during the crisis by participating in cross-boarder trading with Botswana and South Africa because civil servants were not required to have visas at the time.^[36] Teachers would use their off time during the school year to hoard goods from other country and resell them in Zimbabwe to make a profit and earn a livable living that their teacher salaries did not satisfy.^[36]

In 2009, the national economy stabilized because of the actions taken by the newly established Government of National Unity (GNU). The GNU enacted the dollarization of the national economy which curved the effects of hyperinflation and the informal economy.^[40] The GNU also allocated every civil servant, including teachers, the equivalence of $100 US dollars.^[36] Teachers were encouraged to reenter the profession and move back to Zimbabwe, but thousands never returned and got better paying positions elsewhere.^[14] The dollarization of Zimbabwe's economy also reduced the amount of teacher participating in the informal economy.^[40]

Thousands of teachers who are under motivated due to low salaries, limited resources and the shortage of teachers will continue to threaten or actually strike in the future unless their needs are better addressed by the government.^[39]

Textbooks[edit source | edit]

In 2009, the Educational Transitional Fund (ETF) was launched to improve the quality of education that dropped in recent years. This became a platform to partner with UNICEF and for donors to financially support the education sector of Zimbabwe. Accumulation and distribution of textbooks has been the focus of ETF in recent years. The National Education Advisory Board claimed that 20 percent of students did not have textbooks for core subjects and the pupil to textbook ration was 10:1 as of 2008.^[41] Thousands of books have been donated in the past few years along with additional learning materials. UNICEF currently reports that the pupil to textbook ratio is now 1:1.^[41]

Contents:

1.History (new section added)

1.1 Colonial Government to 1980 (New sub-section)

British settlers arrived in the 1890's to southern Rhodesia, the area now known as Zimbabwe, and created Christian missionary schools to serve local communities. The colonial government provided an education for the indigenous population that was focused on agricultural production and industrial development including carpentry, building and agriculture. Researchers claim that in order to control the locals, the colonial government limited education and censored knowledge in schools. Limits in access to education kept Africans in positions of labor and subordinate to white colonists in order to advance European political and economic gains. Missionary schools perpetuated social and economic repression of the indigenous population by reducing their chances of earning well-paying jobs or positions of power through offering limited education and foundational skills for labor exploitation and external servitude.

Segregation of funding and quality of education were most extreme in the 1970's because during that decade Europeans represented 1% of Zimbabwe's population, but were allocated 99% of government spending on education. The Education Act of 1979 regulated access to each type of school through a zoning system based on residence. Before the Act, Zimbabwe's education system was divided between African and European schools. After the shift in policy, the education system split into government schools, community schools and private schools and split government schools into Group A, B and C. White students historically attended Group A schools that offered highly trained teachers and resources. These schools were located in white suburbs that denied housing opportunities for blacks, a contribution factor in education disadvantages in segregated schools. Group B, requiring a low-fee payment in suburban areas, and C schools, which do not require a fee beyond educational materials, were only available for African students. These schools had less resources, funding and qualified faculty compared to Group A schools. Europeans were disproportionately offered more educational resources than the majority black population because the colonial government controlled access to quality schools based on race and socioeconomic status.

1.2 National Education Reform in the 1980's (New sub-section)

In 1980, ZANU party, Zimbabwe African National Union took power over the white, colonial government through the national election. ZANU democratized education by promising free and compulsory primary and secondary education to all children in Zimbabwe. All primary school tuition fees were abolished after independency. Dr. Dzingai Mutumbuka was elected the Minister of Education to support Zimbabwe through education reform and keep students in school. The government allocated 17.3 percent of the the total national budget towards education which was considered an "education miracle." The climate of the education system changed by focusing on fostering self-sufficient students that are productive, motivated and dedicated citizens. Zimbabwe's education system reformed to no longer disadvantage blacks by providing education to all children. Within one year, the education system nearly doubled the number of students it served from 885,801 students to 1,310,315 student in primary and secondary school.

Thousands of refugee children from Mozambique migrated to Zimbabwe, causing an increase in the number of children attending public schools and need for teachers. The Minister of Education brought in teachers from Australia, Britain and Canada for a short period of time to fill the teaching gaps. Schools expanding their human resources to serve as many children as possible with limited infrastructure by practicing "hot-seating" which means the school offers class in the morning to half of the school and in the afternoon to the other half, also known as double session schooling. "Hot-seating" was still not enough to meet the demands of the school system; therefore, the Ministry of Education expanded teacher education colleges rapidly by providing "on-the-spot" teacher training. In 1986, 8,000 additional teachers were trained to meet the demands of the school system. Communities also built more infrastructure for education; for example, from 1979 to 1984, the number of primary schools in operation increased by 73.3 percent and the number of secondary schools increased by 537.8 percent. Following independence, "hot-seating," exponential increases in the number of students and the need for more infrastructure and teachers alarmed the Zimbabwean government because of overwhelming educational demands of the citizen. Although the nation faced challenges with the magnitude of students to educate, by the end of the 1980's Zimbabwe achieved universal primary education.

1.3 Current State of Education

Zimbabwe's focus on expanding education opportunities for the past 25 years has lead to national accomplishments including having the highest literacy rate in Africa at 83.6 percent. However, In 2010, the government expenditure on education was 8.7 percent. However, Group A schools still are superior in resources and teacher quality when compared to Group B or C schools. Double session schooling, shared overcrowded classrooms enable more students to attend school, but also students are given less attention and time to learn.

2.Education Stages (new section added)

The education system in Zimbabwe encompasses 13 years of primary and secondary school running from January to December. The school year is a total of 40 weeks with 3 terms and a month break in-between each term.

2.1Early Education (New sub-section)

2.2 Primary Education (New sub-section)

Zimbabwe's education system requires 7 years of primary school,

2.3 Secondary Education (New sub-section)

Secondary Education requires 6 years of schooling in Zimbabwe starting around the age of 6.

3. Higher Education (New Section Added )

4. Governance (New sub-section)

5. Recent Factors Affecting Education in Zimbabwe (New sub-section)

Zimbabwe's education system faces many challenges including a lack of teachers, national funding, infrastructure and hygiene.

5.1 Funding (New sub-section)

Although Zimbabwe's independency prompted an education reform in 1980 to provide free and universal education to all children, tuition fees and education costs have been accumulating over time. Education is not completely free in Zimbabwe due to historical government expenditures on providing infrastructure for education and recent years of global economic crisis. Parents that do not pay for tuition due to education subsidies are still required to pay additional fees including building fees, uniforms and stationary for their children.

5.2 Access to Education (New sub-section)

5.3 Gender Differences (New sub-section)

Gender differences are insignificant in primary education, but Zimbabwe faces clear disparities between males and females in secondary education. Females are increasingly more likely to drop out than their male peers due to early marriages, cost of continuing education and gender-based violence in secondary schools.

5.4 Teachers (New sub-section)

In the first decade of the 21st century, 45,000 out of 100,000 teachers in the country left the profession. Marked by a time period of hyper-inflation, teachers were one of the lowest paid professions, receiving the equivalence of $10 US dollars for every three months of teaching to as low as $1 US dollar every month. Thousands of teachers protested, left public education and migrated to other countries in response to the economic crisis. Many teachers joined the informal economy, or black sector, during the crisis by participating in cross-boarder trading with Botswana and South Africa because civil servants were not required to have visas at the time. Teachers would use their off time during the school year to hoard goods from other country and resell them in Zimbabwe to make a profit and earn a livable living that their teacher salaries did not satisfy.

During a year-long strike from 2008 to 2009, teachers demanded higher salaries paid in international currency while nearly 94 percent of all rural schools were closed and school attendance rates fell from 80 percent to 20 percent in a year.

The dollarization of the national economy by the established Government of National Unity (GNU) in 2009 curved the effects of hyperinflation and the informal economy. The GNU also allocated every civil servant, including teachers, the equivalence of $100 US dollars. Teachers were encouraged to reenter the profession and move back to Zimbabwe, but thousands never returned and got better paying positions elsewhere. The dollarization of Zimbabwe's economy also reduced the amount of teacher participating in the informal economy.

Teacher strikes are still a problem Zimbabwe's education system faces today,

5.5 Special Education (New sub-section)

5.6 Violence in rural schools

Rural areas have failed to attract teacher due to violence.

6. See Also (adding more internal links)

7. References (adding more internal links)

8. External links (adding more internal links)