During the study it emerged that peace education faces innumerable challenges which are espoused within each of the given proposals. Various proposals, most of them structural and therefore long term, were raised by the respondents towards promoting an enabling environment for peace education in Zimbabwe. Bhebhe argued that “If we are going to leave our children anything, we want to leave them a peaceful nation. This will happen if we prioritize, lots of money going to waste should be redirected to this effort” Of the numerous propositions made by the various respondents during this study the overarching one was the need for the state to exercise political will by making tangible structural changes as a commitment to making a break with the culture of violence. This is also echoed by Machakanja(2010:iv) who recommends that
“…there is need for a clear and credible account of the past involving acknowledgement for past violations as a process of facilitating individual and national healing and reconciliation…” This
90
was supported by Mavhengere who gave a detailed outline of how peace as one of the major subjects should entail a wider social campaign within which:
Steps towards reconciliation have to be taken…All the evils that were done by the grandfathers on both sides need to be confronted. Let us confront our HISTORY…truth telling is a key pillar. There should be apologies from the highest levels of our nation‟s political leadership and they should be able to say “I am sorry” as a pathway to reconciliation. We cannot promote peace without confronting our HISTORY…there is need to look at the past…For me I believe that my days are numbered and I believe I just have to tell the truth.
In affirmation of this, Bhebhe, who argues that Zimbabwe does not have peace education yet, also proposes a re-packaging of peace education so that it is premised on an acknowledgement of past harm. This resonated with Gulati who argues that:
Social units like the family, the political parties and the media, if not wired or structured for the promotion of peace can continue playing a contrary role to what young people are taught. Some families who have been victims of violence in the past are likely to socialize their young to be intolerant of those groups that have harmed them. Family histories shape collective community histories …because these family and community histories remain “un-publicly” confronted they threaten to destabilize all other effort at promoting social stability and peace. As currently is the case in Zimbabwe right now, the hostility emerges to contaminate every sector of the nation‟s day to day life be it soccer, workplaces or even churches because citizens are yearning for an outlet.
Peace education should start at the lowest levels just like other subjects in order for its values to take root. This was also raised by one of the lecturers who requested anonymity who noted that:
It is good that universities, colleges and all educational institutions–All potential structures of education should offer peace education; it will help shape our future leadership. Full-fledged peace programmes that are practically oriented for example interacting with the UN and other stakeholders e.g. Security Sector is key, churches etc.
In the same vein, Douglas Munemo, a lecturer of peace studies at MSU recognizes that there is a need for peace educators to review their methodologies and be open minded. Munemo argues that “People speak because they have demands-the outbursts are premised on reality – there is need to confront these realities.” He also called for a holistic but synergized approach to
91
peace education that begins at the grassroots to ensure that peace education, like HIV/AIDS education is mainstreamed into various levels of the society‟s structure. Another lecturer, in the same manner proposed that peace education be introduced right from pre-school in order to inculcate values of tolerance and constructive resolution of conflict. Moyo, the former Development Studies lecturer from MSU also proposed a secondary level peace education programme as she believes primary schools, by virtue of their ethos of promoting love and care for others as well living and working together, have always been working to promote peace.
There is a pervasive perception among students that Zimbabwean universities and other tertiary level institutions are heavily infiltrated by state security operatives who have been planted to counter oppositional political developments. Therefore, another pre-condition for peace education was the urgent need for the state to address infiltration so that peace can be taught and learnt comfortably. Students across the universities were in support of this view arguing that infiltration creates an air of criminality and illegality, something that not only exhibits the Janus face of a government that wants to be seen to be “doing something about peace” yet curtailing it. Apart from the perceived infiltration Gulati argues that the media is also the biggest culprit. It exposes the double standards of a government that seems to have given its blessing to the teaching and learning of peace education yet the state aligned media is engaged in advancing contrary values. She notes that:
It‟s unfair that a student emerges from a peace studies class where they have been learning tolerance for alternative views to encounter a leading public paper like the herald with a headline that dehumanizes all contrary opinion. Zimbabwe needs, through families, political leadership and the media to walk the talk in the given peace studies curriculum. That way, young people can begin to be transformed.
However when it comes to the media it is not only the state aligned media that requires transformation. Students noted that both locally and internationally the media is driven by what
92
sells and war, instead of peace is what sells. They drew examples from the Cable News Network reportage that they argue is driven by conflicts, especially those in Africa and various parts of the developing world. There is a huge disproportion between reporting aimed at promoting peace and that which seemingly valorizes wars in Syria, Sudan and Nigeria, just to name a few.
One MSU student stated that each time she switches on the television the motivation is to check
“where is the chaos happening, who has been murdered or deposed in a coup”
As already noted, peace education still requires a lot of groundwork in Zimbabwe, most of which entirely rests on the political will of the current leadership. In the next chapter I summarize on the recommendations that have already been raised in this chapter as part of drawing conclusions on this study.