WATCH: South African and Zimbabwean basic education ministers meet to sign bilateral agreements on sharing of best practice

The purpose of the visit is to sign a bilateral agreement, the implementation of which will include the sharing of best practice and experiences through technical exchanges between the two countries. Photo: Department of Basic Education.

The purpose of the visit is to sign a bilateral agreement, the implementation of which will include the sharing of best practice and experiences through technical exchanges between the two countries. Photo: Department of Basic Education.

Published Aug 18, 2022

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South Africa’s Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Zimbabwe’s Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Dr Evelyn Ndlovu signed bilateral agreements between South Africa and Zimbabwe on areas related to basic education/primary and secondary education on Thursday.

Motshekga is hosting Ndlovu for two days, from today, Thursday, until tomorrow, the South Africa’s National Department of Basic Education said in a statement

The purpose of the visit is to sign a bilateral agreement, the implementation of which will include the sharing of best practice and experiences through technical exchanges between the two countries.

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State of basic education in Zimbabwe

According to the Education sector financing and the political economy context, there has been underfunding of education since the late 1980s, with a system that is now very dependent on parental and community support.

Parents contribute about 96% of the non-salary costs to education at the school level with resultant issues in terms of equity, According to Holistic Think Tank, which is a non-profit organisation whose aim is to promote a new way of thinking about education and provide schools with concrete systematic solutions.

Education in South Africa

In July 2021, Unicef published a report on education in South Africa which estimated that learners were anywhere from 75% to a full school year behind and about 500 000 learners had dropped out of school at that point.

The alarming statistics have been brought to focus because of the global pandemic.

Meanwhile, it’s back to school for nearly 500 Zimbabwean teachers as they begin virtual exams before they are selected to work as teachers in Rwanda.

The assessment exercise started on Wednesday in Harare, Bulawayo, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central and Midlands before a considerable number of Zimbabwean teachers are selected to work in the central African nation, local Zimbabwean radio station Nahenda Radio.

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