Challenges experienced by remedial education program in peri-urban primary schools in Zimbabwe. Case study of Riki Primary School in Mashonaland Province, Seke District.

Abstract

The major concern of the study was that despite having remedial education programs in Zimbabwe schools, the performance in peri-urban primary schools is not below expectation. The purpose was to examine the challenges experienced by remedial education programs in peri-urban primary schools as perceived by remedial teachers, and school administrators. The study used document analysis as the foundation of data collection. Interview questions were used to collect data from teachers and school administrators. Focus group discussions was used to collect data from teachers through using ZOOM online meeting. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyze the collected data. The collected data was clustered into themes in line with the study objectives. The findings identified challenges such as lack of remedial learning resources, stigma and discrimination, class size, facilitator expertise, and high teacher-learner ratio. Therefore, the study concluded that remedial education in Zimbabwe's peri-urban primary schools was ineffective. The study recommended that there is need for the government through the Ministry of Education to revise and review the Zimbabwe school remediation policy, train teachers on how to administer remedial lessons, and provide adequate support to promote effective remedial education.