Shortage of qualified teachers blamed for low pass rate in Hwange schools

Hwange (New Ziana) – Shortage of qualified teachers and the high drop out rate among learners in rural areas has been blamed for the low pass rate in schools in Hwange district, Matabeleland North province.

Although no precise figures are available, education authorities in the district say a large number of children have abandoned school as a result of hunger and the long distances that they have to walk.

Hwange district primary and secondary education officer Walter Moyo told a recent Hwange Rural Development Committee meeting that the notable low pass rate was due shortage of qualified teachers in both satellite and registered schools in the district.

“The district is facing a big challenge as most qualified teachers move to other provinces in the country, leaving Hwange with few or no qualified teachers in most schools,” he said.

His sentiments were echoed by Hwange Rural District Council chief executive officer Phindile Ncube who has been spearheading the establishment of new schools in the district, who said the lack of qualified teachers was an infringement on the rights of children to quality education.

“We cannot afford a situation where we do not have qualified teachers to teach our children. The centralizing of recruitment is not proper especially in the education system,” he said.

The situation is compounded by the shortage of food which is affecting many school children in the arid district, considered among the most impoverished in the country.

“Only 50 percent of primary school going children in this village are coming to school and these also attend according to their will,” said a teacher at Nduminchenga Primary School.

Most satellite schools in the district also suffer from shortage of staff and learning materials as they are run by the communities with Songwa Primary School in Dete given as an example.

Last year the school had a 7.6 percent pass rate for Grade Seven, which was attributed to lack of qualified staff.

However, in some parts of the district, communities have established their own satellite schools to ensure every child received education.

Mashala village Ward 9 councilor Pasca Mpofu said his community had established Early Childhood Development centres in Mashala Top and Chachachunda areas to reduce the distances that the young children had to endure to get to and from school.

“The children were walking 7 km to the next Primary School. We have established some ECD centres in the village. We have a volunteer who teaches them and the community makes contributions to pay her,” he said.

Mpofu said the satellite ECD centres would feed into Mashala Primary School.

He appealed to the government and humanitarian agencies to intervene through equipping the satellite schools.

Neshaya Secondary School which was established through humanitarian assistance, has played a pivotal role in alleviating the education crisis in Hwange.

The school, which offers “bush” or “self service” boarding facilities, has been saving learners from walking long distances through offering makeshift boarding facilities.

New Ziana