All Schools Have Been Ordered To Shut Down In Zimbabwe

Mugabe Regime Cancels The School Year -- The Australian

Since the school year began in January, Zimbabwe's 4.5million pupils have had a total of 23 uninterrupted classroom days, teaching unions say -- a sorry state for a country that once had the highest standard of education in Africa.

President Robert Mugabe became an African hero of rare distinction when he carried out a big expansion of the education system in the early years of his rule. But, as with most of the country's infrastructure, that system is now collapsing.

The national high school leaving pass rate in the mid-1990s was 72 per cent. Last year, it crashed to 11 per cent. Many schools recorded zero passes.

To avoid the humiliation of total failure, the Government has cancelled the academic year.

"It would be criminal if theGovernment allows examinations to go ahead," said the secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, Raymond Majongwe.

In January, teachers went on a prolonged strike over their salaries. In April, Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF party accused them of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change during the March elections and blamed them for the President's first-round defeat.

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My Comment: Zimbabwe once had the highest educational standards in Africa.