Urban vs. Rural: The Fight for Support from the Zimbabwean Government

Every day, a typical rural-based student walks over a mile just to attend school (Mapuranga). Living in a country with an economy strong enough to create a 90.9% literacy rate in the youth, one would expect that these students would be receiving proper education (Ernstes). However, living in a rural area means that secondary school is unlikely and while one might be able to read, his or her education doesn’t excel far beyond that (Ernstes). With a literacy rate of 90.9% for youth and 83.6% for adults, Zimbabwe has the highest numbers in Sub-Saharan Africa (Ernstes). Despite these impressive statistics, huge disparities remain between urban and rural schooling in Zimbabwe (Mapuranga).

In 1987, the Education Act of 1987 was released in Zimbabwe stating that public education in both urban and rural areas is supposed to be free. However, due to building and sports fees, schooling costs between $15 and $35 depending on the school’s location (Education). For families living in rural areas with their food coming from their farms, this money may be difficult to come up with.

To begin, the government focuses its funding for schools on “group A” areas, which are the urban areas with the richer families, leading to better resources and teachers. The “group B” schools, the rural areas with the poorer families, do not receive funding from the government and the teachers are paid low wages, resulting in staff shortages and high turnover rates (Ernstes). Due to the high funding that urban schools receive, it is evident that the government has an economy that can support all schooling but instead, the Zimbabwean government has decided to put the resources for the rural schools, as extra funding for the urban schools instead. Even without the adequate funding, student’s physical access to school in rural areas also inhibits them from continuing schooling past the primary level.

Furthermore, there are few schools located in rural areas, leading to students having to walk long distances just to attend school. In an interview with Bhaulen, a student attending school in a rural community, he said “ he would walk 20km daily to and from school. ‘We would study using paraffin lamps towards examinations and finish around midnight. I would get home late at night and sleep for a few hours before walking back to school to get there on time’” (Mapuranga). Without a school nearby, students are being forced to walk many miles just to attend school. This inconvenience is what leads to the large drop-off from primary to secondary schooling in rural areas, making school attendance of males and females go from 88% to 48% (Ernstes).

In conclusion, despite education strives leading to a high literacy rate, Zimbabwe still has room for growth in quality and equality when it comes to facilities and teachers in rural areas in comparison to urban areas. While there is no current solution to the disparities in Zimbabwe’s education, the country once created an act that promised free and accessible schooling for all, and while that has not yet been accomplished, this act led to the notable literacy rates (Education). Without a further change focused on rural education, those students will continue to be withheld from accessing proper education.


Works Cited:

"Crisis in Africa's education." Cape Times [South Africa], Gale In Context: Global Issues, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A491069342/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=5105e3a6. 4 May 2017. Web. 10 Mar. 2020.

Education and Leadership, Digital. “The Primary and Secondary Education System in Zimbabwe: Quick Facts.” Higher Life Foundation, 7 Oct. 2016, www.higherlifefoundation.com/the-primary-and-secondary-education-system-in-zimbabwe/.

Ernstes, Casey. “Zimbabwe Education System.” The Borgen Project, Borgen Project, 15 Aug. 2019, borgenproject.org/education-zimbabwe/.

Mapuranga, Sofia. “Rural Students: the Struggle for Education.” Rural Students: the Struggle for Education, NewsDay Zimbabwe, 27 Oct. 2012, www.newsday.co.zw/2012/10/rural-students-the-struggle-for-education/.

Musau, Zipporah. “Africa Grapples with Huge Disparities in Education | Africa Renewal.” United Nations, United Nations, Mar. 2018, www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2017-march-2018/africa-grapples-huge-disparities-education.

The Ray of Hope

The Ray of Hope

A. “But it was not a shoe, it was a suitcase. A ray of light bounced off the glossy lid. It was an elegant suitcase, a little worn but made of fine leather, and it gave off a whiff of civilization” (48-49).

B. “We were beside ourselves. My head reeled, as if I’d had too much to drink. I took the novels out of the suitcase one by one, opened them, studied the portraits of the authors, and passed them on to Luo. Brushing them with the tips of my fingers made me feel as if my pale hands were in touch with human lives” (99).

Sijie uses Four-Eyes’s suitcase to represent the gateway to intellectual liberty for the two re-educated boys. The suitcase, which the narrator accidentally stumbles upon in Four-Eyes’s room, is an object of mystery and wonder throughout much of the book. Ironically, the suitcase itself is never described in much detail; it’s what’s inside that the narrator and Luo really care about. The suitcase with its trove of Western literature gives the two boys hope that there is more to their situation as they’re now enabled to explore new and foreign ideas which they were never exposed to. Furthermore, the suitcase embodies the narrator and Luo’s hope for the freedom to think as independent entities, separate from the ideals of the Communist Party. Once Luo and the narrator read Ursule Mirouet by Balzac, they are unable to resist the intellectual liberty brought by the literature and therefore steal the suitcase. The suitcase, being a symbol of their aspiration for intellectual liberty shines a ray of hope into the well of their reeducation.