Zimbabwe's Educational System:
A Solid Foundation for Higher Education
Education in Zimbabwe
When Zimbabwe gained its independence from colonial rule in April 1980, the majority of her people lacked the opportunities and facilities for quality secondary schooling, most only finishing several years of primary schooling. Over the first 20 years of independence, Zimbabwe's population of 13 million has witnessed incredible strides in school expansion, teacher training, and resource improvement. As a result, Zimbabwe boasts the highest literacy rate in Africa. There remain, however, significant discrepancies between educational opportunities for Zimbabwe's rural majority and for those who live in the main urban centers of Harare, Chitungwiza, Bulawayo and Mutare. The apartheid legacy has also left its mark on Zimbabwe's education system with formerly-white, private "Group A" schools far superior in terms of resources and trained teachers when compared to their mission and government-sponsored counterparts. Zimbabwe's education system consists of 7 years of primary and 6 years of secondary schooling before students can enter university in country or abroad. The academic year in Zimbabwe runs from January to December , with three month terms, broken up by one month holidays, with a total of 40 weeks of school per year. National examinations are written during the third term in November, with "O" level and "A" level subjects also offered in June. Teachers and nurses train for three years at nursing and teacher training colleges after their secondary schooling, with the more qualified having subsequently earning university degrees. Currently, there are five public universities as well as three church-related universities in Zimbabwe that are fully internationally accredited.
Primary School: Grades 1-7
Most Zimbabwean children begin Grade 1 during the year in which they turn six, with a smaller number beginning either during their fifth or seventh year. In urban areas the medium of instruction is purely English, with Shona or Ndebele taught as a subject; in rural schools students begin learning in their mother tongue, but transition to all reading and writing in English by Grade 4. Curriculum is nationalized with prescribed textbooks all in English. The seven years of primary schooling culminate in four nationally-set Grade 7 examinations in Mathematics, English, Shona or Ndebele and Content, which is a combination of sciences and social sciences.
Secondary School: Forms I-VI
Students entering Form I, usually aged 12-13, compete for places in the private and mission day and boarding schools based on their Grade 7 examination results. Government schools take students by zone and then allot the rest of the places to those with the best qualifications. Secondary School consists of three levels: ZJC (Zimbabwe Junior Certificate) which includes Forms I and II; "O" level which includes Forms III and IV; and "A" level which includes Forms V and VI. The ZJC Core Curriculum (equivalent to Grades 8-9) consists of 8 subjects: English, Shona or Ndebele, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Bible Knowledge, and a Practical Subject (ie Food and Nutrition, Fashion and Fabrics, Woodwork, Agriculture, Metalwork, Technical Drawing, etc.) Zimbabwe has phased out the ZJC examinations last year, 2001, but has maintained the same curricular framework for general Form 1 and 2 education.
Based on their Form 1 and 2 reports, students are assigned to courses and tracked classes for their "O" level studies for Forms III and IV (equivalent to Grades 10-11). In government schools in the high-density urban townships and in the rural areas, students are restricted in their options and usually are only afforded the opportunity to take 8 or 9 subjects. Elite private schools often allow and encourage students to take up to 12 or 13 subjects for "O" level exams. Since the early 1990's and until April 2002, GCE "O" level examinations were set and marked in Zimbabwe by the Zimbabwe Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) in conjunction with the University of Cambridge International Examination GCE system. Marks from highest to lowest are A,B,C,D,E,U with A, B, and C as passing marks. With the fast-tracked localization of examinations, many independent school students have been writing both local and British exams. Recently, Zimbabwe issued a directive to try to ban private schools from offering any foreign examinations, the most common of these being the British GSCE, AS and A level. As a result of this government directive, Cambridge threatened to pull out of its collaborative role in Zimbabwe's examination system completely and no longer offer its own exams in the country either. However, a group of activist parents lobbied the Zimbabwean government to revoke the ban on foreign exams, and they have continued to be offered as normal in 2002.
Subjects currently on offer for "O" level examinations include:
Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Physics with Chemistry, Integrated Science, Mathematics;
Liberal Arts: English Literature, Religious Education, Geography, History
Commercial Subjects: Accounts, Commerce, Economics, Computer Studies
Languages: English, Shona, Ndebele, French, German, Latin
Arts: Art, Music
Practical Subjects: Woodwork, Metalwork, Agriculture, Technical Drawing, Fashion & Fabrics, Food & Nutrition
To receive a passing ZIMSEC "O" level GCE certificate, a student needs to have passed at least five subjects including English language with a mark of "C" or better. The English "O" level examination serves as a gateway for many students who cannot proceed without it despite their other exam scores. Entrance into "A" level programs is quite competitive, with the majority of "O" level students either returning to small-scale farming, entering the work force or proceeding to a vocational course, a technical school or a nursing or teaching college. Only those with the best scores manage to find a place in an "A" level program. Students typically write their "O" level exams when they are 15-17 years old.
At the Advanced "A" level, students usually choose between science, commercial and art subjects to study for Forms V and VI. The vast majority of students take three subjects at "A" level, with a few very gifted students at elite schools opting for four subjects. In addition, many A level students take "General Paper," a very challenging exam that assesses both English writing skills and knowledge of current events both nationally and worldwide. "A" level examinations written in Zimbabwe have continued to be set and marked at the University of Cambridge in the UK; they have been considerably more challenging than "O" levels, yielding far less favorable pass rates. After June 2002 exams, A levels will be localized and run by ZIMSEC. It is common for a capable student to have higher "O" level exam marks than her/his "A" level exam marks. Admission officers often consider grades of A, B or C on "A" level exams to be grounds for exemption from college and university courses, in the same manner as are scores of 5,4, and 3 on AP exams in the US.
"A" level subjects currently offered in Zimbabwe include:
Arts: English Literature, Geography, Shona/Ndebele Language and Literature, Divinity, History, French, Art, Music, Latin
Commercial: Management of Business, Economics, Accounts, Computer Science, Technical Graphics
Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics
Special Notes for Admissions Officers:
* Zimbabwean students have strong skills in conversational and written academic English. For this reason, we advise undergraduate applicants who have achieved at least a "B" on either their English "O" level or General Paper "A" level examination to have a teacher or headmaster write them a waiver letter in lieu of taking the TOEFL exam.
* The SAT I and II exams are offered in Harare six times a year, with the SAT also offered in Bulawayo four times annually. The TOEFL is offered as a computer-based exam daily in Harare. Unfortunately, preparation materials are not nearly as readily available to Zimbabwean students as they are for their American counterparts and there are no test prep courses available here, putting Zimbabweans at a comparative disadvantage in terms of standardized testing.
* Because students who write their "A" level subjects in November do not receive their results until the end of February, they often need to submit college and university applications before their results are out, faxing and sending you the results to complete their applications as soon as they receive them.
* Given the examination-driven national curriculum in Zimbabwe, secondary schools do not routinely produce transcripts for their students. Students receive informal, hand-written school reports twice a year, but there is no g.p.a., class rank or other official marks given for continual assessment throughout secondary school. Also, teachers often downgrade all students the term before exams to motivate them to work harder. "O" and "A" level certificates are considered the official academic qualifications as opposed to a school-generated report. As students are only given one copy of their exam results, they will submit copies of the originals certified and stamped by either the Headmaster of their school, by ZIMSEC or by the US Embassy Educational Advisor. Students can also send a copy of their school reports or ask the school to compile this information into a one page report. They will be hard-pressed to calculate a g.p.a
* Secondary school teachers and administrators are not used to writing recommendations for students often requested by US colleges and universities. Given an academic culture devoid of grade inflation and platitudes, Zimbabwean recommendation letters often seem very average in comparison to their American counterparts, even when the teacher writing has utmost respect and hope for the student.
* With a lack of computer availability, many college and university applications and recommendation letters will arrive to you handwitten. Not all students will have Internet/email accessibility so written materials remain the essential recruiting and informational medium of choice in Zimbabwe. Many Zimbabwean students do not have a phone in their homes. International mail between the US and Zimbabwe is currently unreliable, with letters and small parcels taking between two and six weeks. Whenever possible, we urge US admissions officers to send vital documents, such as acceptance and financial aid award letters and I-20 forms by courier; Zimbabwe is serviced by DHL, FedEx and UPS. We also encourage you to email decision and financial aid award letters to Zimbabwean candidates who do have email addresses, so as to allow the students ample time to make decisions and send an enrollment deposit.
* The US Embassy's Educational Advising Program in Zimbabwe offers a full-service educational advising center to which both prospective undergraduate and graduate students can become members. USEAC members have free access to email and Internet, to an array of reference guides and test preparation materials, to a vast collection of university catalogs, CD-Roms and videos, to a variety of workshops and presentations and to individual advising. Although the advising program's office is in the capital Harare, we also have satellite advising centers in Zimbabwe's four other major metropolitan areas as well as in the four main universities' libraries.
* In 2001, over 1250 Zimbabwean students went to the US to study at colleges and universities, significant considering Zimbabwe's population of 13 million. In 2002, this number declined to 850 student visas, mostly attributable to the economic crisis Zimbabwe is facing. Many Zimbabwean youth have made the successful transition to highly competitive academic institutions. The main obstacle for Zimbabwean students seeking admission to colleges and universities in the US for their undergraduate study is neither competence nor qualifications, but finances.
* Zimbabwe has experienced extreme economic and political instability over the past year and a half. As a result, the IMF and World Bank estimate that inflation im Zimbabwe will reach 522% by the middle of 2003, with the official rate of reported inflation currently at 175%. Although Zimbabwe as an official exchange rate of Z$55=US$1, foreign currency is only available on the parallel market at a current rate of Z$1500 to US$1. For this reason, admissions and financial aid officers need to be especially sensitive to the fact that even relatively wealthy Zimbabweans will be hardpressed to finance their children's education without significant financial assistance, and that figures for wages and expenses will seem artificially low on financial aid forms when converted into US dollars.h
Updated November 2002, Rebecca Zeigler Mano, Educational Advisor, United States Embassy - Public Affairs Section, P.O. Box 4010, Harare, ZIMBABWE,
APO Pouch to ship mateirals: Dept of State, 2180 Harare PL, Washington, DC 20521-2180
Tel: 263-4-758800/1/5, Fax: 263-4-758802/4; Email: rzm@pd.state.gov