By Lawrence Mashoko

ONE of Zimbabwe’s most precious gems is its education system, which produces top academics who go to become leading professionals in various capacities across the globe.
There is an abundance of statistics which show that since independence, the country’s schooling system is singular.
Considering the current economic status and aspirations of the nation, it is important for steps to be taken to ensure that the system evolves so as to produce tangible economic benefits.
Of late there has been growing concern about our nation’s ability to maintain the education system we value so much.
The fissures in the system are becoming more apparent, especially when you consider that our revered education has not translated into national economic prosperity.
Our nation is an outlier in the sense that its educational prowess had not translated into economic proficiency.
A number of factors can be attributed to this anomaly, chief of which is the apparent and fundamental disconnect between our education and our economic goals.
Furthermore, economic pressures have dampened the mood of our educators and other relevant stakeholders and this diminishes the morale that is required for any education system in the world to succeed.
Enthusiasm is the biggest driving force of both learning and teaching.
It is for this reason that it is necessary for our policy makers to be more flexible when it comes to generating funds that stimulate this enthusiasm in and out of the classroom.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, so the old adage goes.
In our efforts to improve and reform the system under the current national circumstances, it is important for us to keep all our options open especially when it comes to the injection of funds.
Parental and private sector involvement in this regard does a great deal of good and very little harm.
The experiences of Japan, South Korea and other emerging economies across the developing world show that a viable education system is closely linked to a prosperous economy.
Our education system has to evolve so that its good reputation can manifest in the local economy.
In mapping out a way to improve our education, we should not over emphasise pass rates because they do not capture the realities that exist on the ground.
At this stage, the focus should be on developing the curriculum rather than over regulating a system that clearly needs more flexibility to stay alive.
At primary and secondary level, there should be greater emphasis on equipping students with skills.
Gone are the days when skilled labour was shunned because it was the coloniser’s way of keeping black people in the field and out of the office. Skilled labour is a great economic stimulant, considering prevailing economic trends such as outsourcing which are shaping the future economies of developing countries particularly in Asia.
Having a large skilled labour force is also very attractive to foreign investors.
The only way our academic excellence can translate into economic prosperity is if the curriculum is developed so as to meet the long term economic goals of the nation.
In Zimbabwe there are a number of economic policies which have been implemented and there are several more in the pipelines such as land redistribution, indigenisation and eventually localisation.
For these policies to see the light of day, our people have to be educated along these economic policies in order for them to take full force.
The agricultural sector for example, has faced a lot of challenges since the land reform started.
A good part of these challenges stem from a lack of farm management skills.
In a country where agriculture is potential big business, our educators should be scrambling to make agricultural training more widespread than it is.
The future success of the Land Reform Programme rests on the education system’s ability to equip our people with the knowledge and skills that make the agricultural sector tick.
Agricultural education needs to be expanded in Zimbabwe.
Localisation is seen as being the next step after indigenisation in the quest to empower our people to control the economy and enjoy the fruits thereof.
It entails processing and manufacturing our goods and resources before we export them.
This has the potential to grow the country’s economy in that it will create jobs, increase the flow of money in the local economy and boost export revenue by virtue of adding value to these goods before we sell them abroad.
In theory, such an economic position can yield a plethora of benefits for the local economy.
However in practice, the policy can only be implemented if the locals themselves have the knowhow and skills required to set it in motion and sustain it.
For example, Zimbabwe can benefit a lot from the local processing of our diamonds, gold and chrome if there are local companies that can actually provide these services.
This calls for deep investments in both infrastructure and human resources.
In the latter case, the biggest investment into human resources will be the availability of skills and specialised education.
From this example, it is manifest that our education system needs to align itself with the key economic policies of the country and it needs to do so to the largest extent.
Part of that process entails boosting education infrastructure and ensuring that our public schools have more equipment to train our people.
This is achievable if the private sector (especially parents) is given more leeway to be more active in funding and engaging with schools with the aim of improving infrastructure and the learning environment.
Therefore both the Ministry of Education and Tertiary Education should actually welcome the private sector to make whatever contribution they can to increase the pool of financial resource that is available to schools.
Building such a sophisticated education system will not come cheap and even the wealthiest government in Africa cannot claim to foot the bill itself.
In fact recently the South Africa legislature started calling for the private sector to help it sustain its National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
They have come to terms with the reality that government cannot carry the burden of funding students and event the system itself and therefore private sector participation is necessary.
There is no reason why our authorities cannot take a cue from this and start welcoming private funding.
At a time when our government is cash strapped, it is prudent that we allow those parents who have the means to improve their children’s education by motivating teachers and making them more accountable.
In fact, private funding will help our primary and high schools to cope with the current economic impasse which will improve the learning environment for pupils.
The disparities between private schools and government schools are a testament of this.
In private schools, parents, former students and the private sector are involved in the running of the schools and this is why their standards are much higher than those of government schools.
For instance, private schools generate a lot of funds from bodies such as the Old Boys Associations, who commit their time and resources to ensure that the system is well lubricated with funds.
This is why they cope better with some of the challenges that affect the economy as a whole.
It is clear that sooner or later, our policy makers will re-welcome private funding after they have put structures in place that make the process more transparent and less vulnerable to abuse.