A Decade of Educational Expansion in Zimbabwe: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Contradictions

Abstract

At the Organization of African Unity's (OAU) 1961 conference in Addis Ababa, African nations committed themselves to redeeming discriminatory colonial education policies and practices by instituting universal education to be attained in the 1980s. Consequently, the post-Addis Ababa conference era has witnessed massive expansion in education throughout the African continent in an attempt to meet the conference's recommendations. Despite this impressive quantitative expansion, the noble goal of universal, free primary and secondary education in Africa remains largely elusive. In his keynote speech to the World Conference on Education For Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi lamented the dismal performance of African countries in the provision of universal education, citing unfavorable economic developments as the chief cause (Education For All, 1970). Examination of the problems and consequences of efforts by African governments to implement universal education reveals that several policy dilemmas have contributed to Africa's failure to achieve this goal. The present article reviews the experiences of one African country, Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia), in the implementation of education for all during its first decade of independence. It examines the causes and consequences of educational expansion and explores policy dilemmas that have faced the Zimbabwean government in its attempts to provide universal primary and secondary education. After considering all available evidence, however, it recommends new policy initiatives and fresh commitment to standing policies if current government efforts to equalize educational opportunities are to succeed.