Post-Colonial VET in Zimbabwe - Historical and policy context of VET provision in Zimbabwe

2.3 Historical and policy context of VET provision in Zimbabwe

2.3.3 Post-Colonial VET in Zimbabwe

Funding for VET in Zimbabwe is provided through the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (ZIMDEF). ZIMDEF was established in terms of the MPDA (28;02) under the trusteeship of the Minister of Higher Education Science and Technology Development. The primary source of ZIMDEF funds is 1% levy on all employers (Government of Zimbabwe, 2002).

2.3.3.1 VET provision from 1980 to 1990

The newly independent government of Zimbabwe is credited for democratising education provision in Zimbabwe (Kanyenze et al., 2011). In the first decade of independence, the country witnessed significant growth in most sectors of the economy including agriculture, mining, and industry and in social services including education and health (McGrath, 1993; Mlambo, 2014).

These developments saw improvements in the living standards of people. Studies of Zimbabwe’s post-independence economic history have revealed that the country was on a path of growth and progress and was the envy of many on the continent and beyond (Kanyenze et al., 2011; Vurayai

& Muwaniki, 2016).

The new government of Zimbabwe sought to rationalise the VET system, firstly by de-racialising it. This was achieved by the merging of structures which had long been divided along racial lines (Munetsi, 1996). The government of Zimbabwe embarked on VET policy reforms which managed to produce large numbers of skilled graduates. This, however, did not result in the anticipated growth due to a mismatch between the skills the graduates possessed and the needs of the labour market (Dorsey, 1989; Munetsi, 1996; Zengeya, 2007). The National Manpower Survey of 1981 set the tone for skills development interventions aimed at improving the manpower requirements of the country. The survey exposed the critical shortage of skilled manpower in Zimbabwe due to the out-migration of skilled personnel to South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia (Kanyenze et al., 2011). At independence, the VET workforce was composed of 8% professionals, 12% skilled, 20% semi-skilled and 60% unskilled (Government of Zimbabwe, 1981).

The post-independence expansion of both general and vocational education provision was guided by the Education Act 5 of 1987 with several amendments (26 of 1991; 24 of 1994; 19 of 1998;

22 of 2001; 25 of 2004 and 2 of 2006). This Act and the amendments were used to formulate a number of policy objectives including the need to provide relevant curricula for both the pathway of vocational and technical education and the academic pathway (Nherera, 2014). The other objective was to improve the match between skills demand and supply by encouraging stakeholder participation in the design and provision of education and training, (Kanyenze et al., 2011).

This was a departure from colonial education and training (which focused on the formal sector at the expense of the non-formal sector) which emerged and grew fast after 1991, the period of economic liberalisation and structural adjustment programmes (Bennell, 2000; Kanyenze et al., 2011). VET in post-independence Zimbabwe is guided by the Ministry of Higher Education and Technology, which is responsible for policy formulation and quality control. However, it is now implemented by a number of government ministries such as the Ministry of Youth, Indigenisation and Employment Creation,(formally known as the Ministry of Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation), the Ministry of Agriculture as well as NGOs, churches and other private sector providers (Kanyenze et al., 2011).

Upon attaining independence, Zimbabwe introduced reforms in VET. Most notable was ZIMFEP, which was a response to the shortcomings of the colonial education inherited by the new government (Chinyamunzore, 1995; Dorsey, 1989; Kasambira, 1987). The ZIMFEP programme also sought to deal with the challenges of structure, content and methods used in the delivery of practical subjects under the F2 system that was used during colonial times (Government of Zimbabwe, 1985). ZIMFEP, with its emphasis on the need for manpower skilled in several vocational trades, led the government to establish technical colleges to train vocational teachers, especially in trades not offered at the only university then, the University of Zimbabwe (Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, 2005). The government increased the numbers of technical colleges by five between 1980 and 1990. These were later upgraded to poly-technical colleges in 1991 to expand the training of technicians and artisans.

In 1990, the government of Zimbabwe introduced the Rationalization of Technical and Vocational Education and Training policy document in order to structure VET into levels for

easier progression in professional development (Kanyenze et al., 2011). The lowest level was the pre-vocational level, followed by the National Foundation Certificate (NC), the National Diploma (ND) and the highest level was the Higher National Diploma (HND) which was equivalent to an undergraduate degree (Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, 2005). From the above discussion it has emerged that there was significant progress in VET provision and policy formulation during the first decade of independence. The government took a central role in both the quantitative and qualitative expansion of VET in the country.

2.3.3.2 VET provision during Economic Liberalisation

Zimbabwe adopted the policy of economic liberalisation from 1991 onwards at the instigation of the Bretton Woods institutions, namely; the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (Chinyamunzore, 1995). These institutions encouraged governments of developing countries to adjust their economies arguing that local currencies were overvalued. In the Zimbabwean case, the programme was named the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). The programme aimed at reducing government expenditure. Therefore, it encouraged the privatisation of most government enterprises, public sector reforms and reduced government participation in social services such as education and health (Kanyenze et al., 2011; Nyazema, 2010).

Economic liberalisation had an effect of increasing the demand for VET skills in Zimbabwe because many people who were retrenched from government needed to develop skills in order to participate in the informal sector. With limited government participation in social services, including VET, as part of liberalisation efforts, private sector provision of VET expanded, facilitated by practices such as the removal of registration restrictions (Bennell et al., 1999).

Economic liberalisation had conflicting consequences on VET provision in Zimbabwe. On the one hand, private sector provision was expanded. On the other hand, ESAP had more negative consequences for the country than benefits. Notable among these include massive job losses through retrenchments as a result of de-industrialisation. During the ESAP period, private funding for VET was affected and this led to poor VET provision as training institutions could no longer sustain investment in training facilities, infrastructure and human resource

development (Kanyenze et al., 2011; Nziramasanga, 1999). Curriculum development during the ESAP period as well as after the introduction of its successor, Zimbabwe Programme for Economic and Social Transformation (ZIMPREST), was compromised by lack of funding. The education sector as a whole remained depressed during this period. This resulted in the government instituting the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training in 1999 popularly referred to as the Nziramasanga Commission (Nziramasanga, 1999).

Post-independence Zimbabwe inherited some challenges in VET faced by the colonial government. Most of the challenges were linked to lack of financial resources to support the sector such as dilapidated infrastructure and equipment and lack of qualified trainers (Muwaniki

& Wedekind, 2019; Nziramasanga, 1999). The other finding of the Nziramasanga Commission was that the school curriculum in Zimbabwe was by and large academic in outlook. The report recommended the adoption of a vocational curriculum at all levels of education in Zimbabwe to ensure that all categories of learners were catered for. However, the implementation of the findings of the Nziramasanga Commission was delayed for more than two decades. The introduction of the Zimbabwe Curriculum Framework for Primary and Secondary Education in 2016 was the first major effort in its implementation (Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, 2016). Vocational education is central in this new curriculum.

2.3.3.3 VET provision during the crisis period, 1999- 2009

From 1999 to 2009, Zimbabwe experienced some of its worst crises (politically, economically and socially) in its post-independence history. Participation in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the payment of gratuities to veterans of the Second Chimurenga (from an over stretched fiscus) and the FTLRP are factors often associated with the economic decline in Zimbabwe (Mabhena, 2010; Raftopoulos & Phimister, 2004). The effects of ESAP were still felt across the economy even though it had officially ended in 1996.

The FTLRP programme resulted in the displacement of former white commercial farmers from their farms without compensation. These farms were redistributed to the black majority (Scoones et al., 2011). The FTLRP seriously affected relations between Zimbabwe and Britain, her former

colonial master. This resulted in Britain cutting diplomatic relations with Zimbabwe, as did other countries in Europe, Australia and America. This resulted in economic sanctions being imposed on Zimbabwe. The sanctions meant that most companies of European and American origin had to relocate from Zimbabwe to neighbouring countries such as Zambia, South Africa and Mozambique (Duri, 2016). Farm seizures through the FTLRP led to the condemnation and isolation of Zimbabwe from the international community. This led to investor flight and company closures ultimately leading to the shrinking of the Zimbabwean economy and de- industrialisation (Duri, 2016; Mlambo, 2017). Ultimately, massive job losses ensued. The companies that continued operating reduced their spending on industrial training.

Post-secondary educational institutions, including vocational training centres, lost qualified and experienced personnel during the massive brain drain that characterised the crisis period.

Kanyenze et al. (2011) note that the brain drain has resulted in acute depletion of skills, with Medicine, Applied Sciences such as Agriculture and Engineering the worst affected. In universities, absconding constituted 52.7 % of staff losses, while resignations constituted 41.1 % of the same. Vacancy rates shot up to 73 %. The situation was not much different in Polytechnic colleges and Vocational Training Centres (Kanyenze et al., 2011). In some cases, professionals engaged in survival strategies such as out-migration to neighbouring countries such as South Africa and Botswana while others engaged in money exchange on the black market (Gukurume, 2015).The coming in of the Government of National Unity (GNU) in 2009 brought hope of change to the social sectors of the country including health and education. The economic, social and political landscape of Zimbabwe has since changed, presenting unique challenges in the sector. The Zimbabwean economic crisis has continued to rage on after the end of the GNU in 2013,the latter of which had managed to bring some stability to the economic problems that had characterised the pre-GNU era (Vurayai & Muwaniki, 2016). The stability in the economic environment was a result of dollarisation of the economy which was adopted in 2009 and resulted in the end of hyper-inflation of the ‘casino economy’ under the former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Gideon Gono’s charge (Gono, 2008).

Numerous studies have been done on the broad challenges faced in vocational training but little has been done focusing on the learners themselves (Ball, 1998; Pillai, Khan, Ibrahim, & Raphael,

2012). The economic crisis in Zimbabwe affected vocational education provision in both government and non-government training centres in many ways and has potential implications for vocational education curriculum responsiveness to the learning needs of A1 farmers.

Dalam dokumen Vocational education and training curriculum responsiveness to the learning needs of A1 farmers in post-2000 Zimbabwe. (Halaman 60-66)