Some years ago, I had occasion to write about what I called “the multiple marginality of the Sudan.” I attempted to analyze different levels of Sudan’s intermediacy – between Arab Africa and Black Africa, between Islamized Africa and Christianized Africa, between Arabic-speaking Africa and English-speaking Africa, between the Africa of the desert and the Africa of the tropical bush. The continent’s largest country in square miles was condemned to multiple layers of marginality and blessed with the mediating opportunities of being herself intermediate.

Historially two salient features characterized the educational system. It was racially segregated and education for the African majority was largely for exploitation. In this paper, I will review the main features of the educational system in colonial Zimbabwe; the legacy of that system and what the new African Government proposes to do to change it to fit the needs of the new Zimbabwe. The 1899 Education Ordinance had set up two separate systems of education, one for Whites and the other for Blacks. The Ordinance left African education entirely in the hands of Christian missionaries with the government giving small grants to mission schools, provided that these schools were kept open for a minimum of four hours a day, of which not less than two hours were to be devoted to industrial training.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss briefly the current reconstruction efforts in Zimbabwe. The historical roots of prevailing social problems will be outlined and, government attempts in addressing these problems, both now and in the future, will be reviewed. The emphasis will be factual rather than analytical, in the hope that the information provided will contribute to the formulation of solutions to the many problems facing the new nation of Zimbabwe. It is difficult to do justice to such a complex subject without a National Development Plan covering all sectors of the economy. Unfortunately, this plan will not be published until possibly mid-June 1981. A global picture is indispensable in dealing with education, because manpower requirements are determined to a large extent by what is happening in all sectors of the economy, which in turn is influenced by the government’s development strategies.

Note: Since this brief review of educational reform in Tanzania is intended to offer insight into a number of problems that confront those involved in transforming the recently independent societies of southern Africa, and since my research on these issues is still at a preliminary stage, I present my comments in schematic form. A brief note on resources and selected citations appear at the end.

At the end of colonial rule in Africa, almost everywhere the formal educational system was assigned major roles in the construction of the new society. Skilled personnel had to be trained to replace the departing Europeans. The vast expansion of social services required many new doctors, engineers, and architects. The increased responsibilities of the public sector required managers, accountants, and planners. And, of course, there had to be a rapid increase in the teaching corps, at all levels.

During the armed struggle for the nation’s independence, the Eastern border provinces of Rhodesia became the center of intense military activity. Accordingly, it was from this region that entire villages were evacuated, as families crossed into Mozambique to escape enclosure by the Smith regime into “protected villages.” The Tangwena people of the area, long pursued by the white power structure in an attempt to disperse them, moved en masse across the border. It was also from this region that vast numbers of school students and other frustrated youth left to answer the call to swell the ranks of the liberation forces. It was natural then that the resettlement of returning refugees from Mozambique camps between January and September 1980 was concentrated in the general Umtali-Fort Victoria area.

This project is to develop an agricultural training school as part of a larger primary/secondary school complex for refugee children from Mozambique near Shamva in northeastern Zimbabwe. The end of the war and the coming of independence has left Zimbabwe with the task of reorienting old structures and institutions. This is particularly true in agriculture and education. Alternative models must be developed in order to provide the skills and experience necessary to rebuild the country along more egalitarian lines. The Danish organization, Development Aid People to People, who are the organizers of this project, provided assistance to ZANU (PF) for the schools in Mozambique and trained 150 ZAND (PF) cadres in their school in Denmark. After independence, Dr. Mutumbuka, Minister of Education, asked the group to continue their assistance, and the school project developed through discussion. Dr. Mutumbuka places tremendous importance on the success of the school as a model for Zimbabwe in the struggle for appropriate education.

The first-time visitor to Salisbury cannot help but be impressed by the exceptionally clean and modern downtown area. The well-kept parks and spotless boulevards put any city in the United States to shame. Supermarket shelves are well stocked, and the near total absence of beggars makes one wonder if this is in fact part of the African continent. If one stays inside the downtown area and its rich suburbs, one can easily miss the ugly truth that millions of people in this relatively affluent nation are suffering from malnutrition and that whole communities have been destroyed by starvation.

In late February, readers of the New York Times read of a pragmatic Planning Minister in a newly independent African state issuing his country’s first development plan whose strategy was based upon building on the existing economic structures. That same day, readers of the Wall Street Journal read of a revolutionary new African state issuing its guidelines for the radical transformation of its economy toward a new socialist order. The casual reader might not even have of noticed that the two stories were commenting on the same by event: the announcement in Salisbury by Economic Planning Minister Bernard Chidzero of the newly independent Zimbabwean Government’s first development guidelines.

At a panel discussion on “Uganda After Amin” at the 1980 African Studies Association annual conference, Professor Ali Mazrui wondered aloud why social scientists on Africa were speaking of reconstruction in Uganda after the fall of General Idi Amin, rather than re-design. Professor Mazrui suggested that since the political system inherited by Idi Amin when he overthrew Milton Obote was faulty and unable to meet the needs of Ugandan people, and since Amin, who was kicked out of office by Ugandan guerrillas and Tanzanian soldiers early in 1977 had left the system practically in shambles, would it not be a much better idea for the new leaders (if one can consider Milton Obote in his return engagement as President of Uganda as a new leader) to think of creating a new political system rather than simply reconstructing one on the basis of the old system.

It is only a year and a half since the landslide victory of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) movement heralded the liberation of Zimbabwe from the control of the rebel minority Smith regime and its latter-day puppet Bishop Muzorewa. Hence, it is as yet very early in the life of a country reborn to expect a coherent picture of their national policies or their particular plans for education, especially when we find ourselves at such a distance from these events.

Non-Formal Education is an integrated approach to learning; it is a program designed to give youths and adults alternative approaches to formal education. The student can simultaneously realize self development and marketable skills while engaging in formal educational pursuits. Many students who have dropped out of school or have been deprived of schooling are thus offered a second chance, and through Non-Formal Education are given an opportunity to enroll in classes relevant to their needs and interests.

The Zimbabwe Conference on Reconstruction and Development (Zimcord) was held in Salisbury from March 23-27, 1981. Thirty-one nations and twenty-six international agencies pledged about $1.45 billion in economic aid to be disbursed over a three-year period beginning in July of 1981. The United States government, through the Agency for International Development, pledged $225 million. USAID has just begun to set up a mechanism for the distribution of those funds. Because of the presence of well-trained personnel and the substantial bureaucracy that has remained intact during the transition from a white- to a black-led government, USAID intends to utilize the existing decision-making structure in Salisbury as much as possible. For those interested in potential Zimbabwean projects, one of the key documents that needs to be studied is the Zimcord Conference Document. In the following discussion the main points of the document are summarized.

The Riddell report on incomes, prices, and conditions of service in Zimbabwe is a comprehensive analysis of the cost of basic necessities, salaries, and the working and living conditions of Zimbabwe’s labor force. This is a significant undertaking in a newly-liberated nation with a government committed to socialist principles. The commission was explicitly charged with examining the economic, social, and legal implications of increasing worker participation in the economy.

Major structural changes in the Zimbabwean economy to alleviate poverty and reduce income inequalities are recommended in the bold and forward-looking report of the Riddell commission of inquiry into incomes, prices, and conditions of service.

The 330-page report of the nine-member commission published here recently offers a broadly-based package of policy recommendations, including higher minimum wages, increased taxes on companies and better-paid individuals, reform of the industrial relations system, substantially more land and better credit and marketing facilities for peasant farmers, the squeezing of pay differentials, and a gradual phasing out of food subsidies.