Feminist Knowledge | Education/Higher Education

*Striving to Achieve Gender Equity in Education - A Zimbabwean Experience – Successes and Challenges

by **Owence Chabaya and Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga

Introduction

This paper is an analytical exposition of the work that has been done by the Zimbabwean Government and International Agencies in trying to redress gender inequalities in education. It briefly describes the colonial education system, the traditional patriarchal society and the foreign religions that gave rise to such gender imbalances in the Zimbabwean society. The achievements, challenges and constraints that have been encountered in trying to achieve gender equity in education will also be discussed. The paper will lastly emerge with some possible practical suggestions on how Zimbabwe, even though it has poor infrastructure and shortage of other resources, can achieve a successful gender balance in education.

The Colonial Period and its Impact on Gender

In Zimbabwe, the government that existed before 1980 put in place some education policies that served the interests of the white male-dominated colonial socio-economic order. The colonial education system in the then Rhodesia did not have a specific policy for the education of women and girls. Policies were race specific and gender neutral (Gordon, 1994). There were two systems of education namely the European Division and the African Division. The European Division of education was non-fee paying, compulsory and of higher quality. It was meant for white, coloured and Asian children while the African Division of education which was neither free nor compulsory and had inadequate education provisions was meant for black children.

Furthermore, the colonial education system had a policy of bottle necking in the education of African children. Only 12,5 % of all African children completing primary education could be allowed to proceed to secondary education (F1 schools). This percentage was achieved through the use of the stanine system in marking the Standard 6 and Grade 7 final examinations. In the mid 1970s a further 37,5% of primary school graduates were admitted to vocational secondary schools (F2 schools). The remaining 50% were expected to fend for themselves (Mlahleki, 1995). Such policies further marginalised female children who were already under represented in the education system.

The patriarchal Zimbabwean society placed women on subordinate roles, in the family. The lowering of women's status was further exacerbated by the colonial government which also introduced customary law in which women wielded very little power if any, in both civic and social circles. Under customary law property was owned by husbands and women were reduced to propertiless dependents who had to submit to the will and wishes of their husbands or male relations in order to survive (Ncube 1987:11). In fact, women were reduced to perpetual minors. Fluid and flexible traditional practices were turned into hard and fast rules by customary law. While traditional custom was both adaptable and sensitive to extenuating circumstances, customary law was not (Schmidt 1990:626). The colonial government used customary law which was heavily engraved with Victorian values to give more power to the domestic authority of the African male guardians. The inequality caused by the colonial system has been aptly summed up by an Albanian female representative at the UN Conference On The Decade Of Women in 1980 who pointed out that, “The true cause of inequality between men and women was the division of society into oppressors and oppressed and a contributory cause was the aggressive policies of the super powers” (Aribino1996:14). Thus the colonial impact diminished the prerogatives and rights which African women formerly enjoyed (Hafkin and Bay, 1976:4)

During the colonial period, there were some mission schools and a few government schools. Africans had to rely mainly on mission schools for their education. Due to traditional patriarchal attitudes, shortage of schools and considerable financial constraints, African parents opted to send male children to school. Even the fewer women who managed to go to school got less pay than men. Jane Ngwenya (1983:83) confesses that during the colonial period she was a teacher and she got less pay than her male counterparts who had the same job and qualifications as hers. This amply demonstrates that colonial education further marginalised women into the periphery of the means of production.

Inadequate provision, traditional sexist attitudes, customary law and poverty combined to place enormous constraints on black girls' access to education (Gordon1994: 132). This state of affairs placed the African girl child at a great disadvantage as far as education was concerned. As a result by 1971, only 43,5% of black children of school going age were in school of which only 3,9% of them were in secondary school. Very few black children reached Form 4 and Form 6 level and of those who did, girls were a minority (Gordon, 1994). For example, only 19 black girls were in Form 6 in 1971. Table 1 below clearly shows how women were marginalised in High School education.

Table 1

Enrolment of African Pupils in Forms 4 and 5 by Sex 1971

Source: Dorsey 1975: 77

The differences that existed in the number of male and female pupils in schools is further highlighted by Stromquist (1995: 2407) who argues that in many African, Middle Eastern and South Asian countries, girls' primary and secondary school enrolments lag substantially behind that of boys.

In pre-independent Zimbabwe, girls of all races who were in school were subjected to some sexist practices and conditions.Subject choices, extra curricula activities and sports were different for boys and girls. Girls were directed into feminine areas such as Needlework and Cookery (Gordon 1994). This segregation based on gender demonstrates that the curriculum itself further marginalised women. Success was measured in terms of masculine behaviour. For example, “school textbooks transmitted heavily stereotyped images of men and women with women adopting low profiles and having traits of passivity and dependency on men, low intelligence and lacking in leadership” (Stromquist 1995 : 2405).

Foreign Religions and their Impact on Gender

Colonialism came with foreign religions like Christianity and Islam. With the introduction of new patriarchal religious values, women sometimes lost opportunities to occupy important and high positions in society. Christianity is a very male–dominated religion such that women have to fight for leadership roles. The very idea of female leadership is inconceivable in Islam (Ogundipe-Lesly 1994:49). Relegating women to second class citizens impedes development because a society cannot develop in a healthy manner without the active participation of women in its cultural, political, social, economic and intellectual life. Thus traditional and religious patriarchal attitudes combined with colonial policies further widened gender inequalities in pre-independent Zimbabwe.

Measures Taken in Post Independent Zimbabwe to Attain Gender Equity in Education

When the Zimbabwean government took over the reigns of political power in 1980, it had to immediately address the imbalances that existed in the education sector among other areas. The new government introduced policies that were geared towards creating an equal basis of opportunities to all Zimbabweans. The government was guided by a socialist ideology, which it had adopted during the liberation struggle. Its policy on education was first enunciated in the ZANU (PF) Party's 1980 Election Manifesto in which the ZANU (PF) government pledged to maintain a uniform educational system, abolish the distinction between African and European education, introduce free and compulsory primary and secondary education for all children regardless of race and above all, to abolish sex discrimination in the education system (ZANU PF Manifesto 1980: 12). As a result, the education policy in Zimbabwe reflected the government's perception of education as both a basic human right and the main means by which equity could be achieved (Government of Zimbabwe 1981). According to this policy, no one could be discriminated against because of their sex, race or creed (Chivore 1990).

Soon after independence the government of Zimbabwe organised a major Conference on Reconstruction and Development (ZIMCORD). Its main purpose according to Chikombah (1999: 37), “was to woo international agencies to come and assist in the reconstruction of infrastructure such as schools, clinics and diptanks that had been destroyed during the liberation struggle. Many agencies and foreign governments committed themselves to help re-build Zimbabwe ”. The Australian government, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the German Foundation for International Development (DSE) provided expatriate teachers to teach Sciences, Mathematics and Technical subjects. The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the Danish International Agency (Danida) and REDD BARNA reconstructed clinics, schools and teachers' houses in rural areas. SIDA also put up a very impressive Curriculum Unit Centre in Harare and it has trained staff both locally and abroad (Chikombah 1999). UNICEF has been active in the country and since 1993 it has embarked on gender sensitisation programmes which have become one of the many widespread programmes in Zimbabwe.

Thus the building of more schools by the school Development Committees, Donor Agencies and the government meant that not only the quality of African education was improved but it also meant that more girls had greater chances of acquiring Western Education since so many schools had sprouted throughout the country. The number of primary schools increased tremendously from 3, 161 to 4, 633 from 1980 to 1995 while secondary schools increased to a total of 1,557 during the same period as compared with the 179 inherited from the pre-independent government. Attempts were made to make sure that no primary school child travelled more than 5 kilometres to school and no secondary school pupil travelled more than 10 kilometres (Zimbabwe Mirror 11-17 May 2001).

The Zimbabwean government also introduced free primary education for all and heavily subsidised secondary education especially in rural areas. This meant that even the African girls who could not go to school due to lack of finances could then actively participate in education. Enrolment figures at school level in both rural and urban areas increased from 1, 235, 815 in 1980 to 2, 476, 575 in 1995 which was an increase of about 100.4% (World Bank, 1994). The situation was further enhanced by the removal or ignoring of age for one to be enrolled at any level in the schools. One could find varying age groups in different class levels where some who lost the educational opportunity during their time due to poverty and bottleneck re-entered the schools. Even though girls did not outnumber boys in enrolment, there was a substantial increase in their number as compared with the pre-independent period. Table 11 clearly shows this.

Table II

Enrolment In Primary Schools By Sex 1981-1985

Source: Statistical Year Book 1987: 62

To counteract the bottleneck entry into secondary school, which existed in the pre- independent era, the Zimbabwean government introduced automatic promotion from one grade to the next in primary school. This also culminated into automatic entry into secondary schools. The transition to Form One was expected to be 100 %. The number of students in secondary schools increased from 74 321 in 1980 to 711 090 in 1995 (Mashingaidze 1998: 3). The increase in secondary school enrolment was mainly a result of subsidised secondary education especially in rural areas and high-density suburbs in urban areas. This massive expansion of secondary education attracted so much international attention such that Zimbabwe acquired the reputation of “ Africa 's flagship” in the development of education in Eastern and Southern Africa (Mashingaidze 1998:4). This meant that more African children in general and girls in particular proceeded to Form 1. Table 111 below amply demonstrates this phenomenon.

Table III

Enrolment in Secondary Schools by Sex 1981-1987

Source : Annual Reports of the Secretary for Education 1981-1987.

Quite a number of girls are now proceeding to ‘A' level as compared with the 19 girls in 1971. A fair percentage of girls though still less than that of boys now proceed to ‘A' level as shown by Table IV below.

Table IV

Enrolment In Secondary Schools Forms 4, 5 (L6) And 6 (U6) 1985-1991

Source: Annual Reports of the Secretary for Education 1985-91

The vast expansion in primary and secondary education meant that more teachers were needed. The government introduced the Zimbabwe Integrated National Teacher Education Course (ZINTEC) in 1981 to increase the number of primary school teachers. To further expedite the increasing of secondary school Science teachers desperately needed in the rural secondary schools the government embarked on a programme of sending students to Cuba to be trained as Science teachers. These then came back and serviced rural secondary schools. Both male and female students benefited from this programme. Conventional teacher training colleges and the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) also increased their enrolment of student teachers and this also benefited the female folk. Although the enrolment of women in teachers' colleges and Universities did not equal that of men by 1992, it however increased substantially after independence. Table V below amply demonstrates this point.

Table V

Women Participation in Higher Education 1980-1992

Source :Statistical YearBook 1993

In 1982 the Zimbabwe government introduced the Equal Pay Regulation which meant that both men and women with the same qualifications and doing the same job could earn the same salary. The policy was meant to eradicate the pre-independent policy where women were earning less than their male counterparts with the same qualifications and jobs as theirs. In the same year the government introduced the Legal Age of Majority Act which meant that men and women were for the first time legally equal (Mahlaule 1995:7). At the age of eighteen both men and women were considered to be majors. This law rescued women from the bondage they had been put into by customary law.

The number of female students at the only University, which was in Zimbabwe at Independence, has always been very low. This was not because women were less intelligent than men but was a result of the patriarchal nature of the Zimbabwean society which glorified male dominance and kept women subordinated (Zinanga 1995:5). In an effort to raise the number of female students at the UZ, the government introduced the Affirmative Action Policy in 1993. According to this policy female students were to be accepted into tertiary institutions with lower pass rates than their male counterparts. At the UZ entry qualifications for women were lowered by two points in every faculty. This move saw a substantial increase of female students at the institution.

Due to the increased demand for University education and the need for an increase in Science and Commercial programmes as well as open and distance learning among the Zimbabwean population, more Universities sprouted throughout the country after independence. These included National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Catholic University (CU), Africa University (AU), Midlands State University (MSU), Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU), Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE), Masvingo and Chinhoyi University colleges and Bulawayo College of Health Sciences. The increase in the number of Universities implies that more African children including girls now have more access to university education.

Currently, The Ministry Of Education Sport And Culture is trying to revamp the curriculum to make it more responsive to the contemporary and future socio-economic needs of the country. It has created a Science base in which Maths and Science are being taught in simpler ways. This is an endeavour to demystify these subjects and make them more child and user–friendly at all levels of the school system (Zimbabwe Mirror 11-17 May 2001). The ministry has also encouraged girls to develop a more positive attitude towards Maths and Science than before. In order to achieve this objective the ministry organises Maths and Science camps for secondary school girls during school holidays with the assistance of donors like UNESCO and UNICEF (Zimbabwe Mirror 11-17 May 2001). The ministry is also in-servicing teachers to make them more gender sensitive in their teaching.

Constraints and their Impact on Gender Equity in Education

The discussion presented above reflects that the Zimbabwean government had very sound policies meant to promote gender equity in education. However, 21 years after independence, the intended level of gender equity in education has not been achieved. Some of the obstacles to the achievement of this target are discussed below.

When the Zimbabwean government put in place the policy of education for all and free primary education it did not put some mechanisms to ensure that all children of school going age were going to school. As a result some parents whose values were deeply rooted in traditional patriarchal beliefs did not take up the offer to send their children to school especially girls who were needed at home to assist with domestic chores. Some religious sects such as Johane Masowe and Johane Marange who usually send their children to school only for the first three years did not change their ways in response to the government's offer of free education at primary level and subsidised secondary education. To these religious sects education is only important in as far as it teaches people how to read and write and nothing more. Even today female adults and teenagers who belong to such church sects engage in some informal trades. For example, in Bulawayo young women line up the streets illegally buying and selling foreign currency.

In 1989 the Zimbabwe government abandoned the Socialist Ideology it had followed since independence because it had realised that it was not healthy for its economic development. It embarked on a new direction of Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP). This meant that less money was to be injected into social services like health and education. Thus free primary education and subsidised secondary education became a thing of the past. In 1993 the government re-introduced payment of fees in urban primary schools. The subsidy on secondary education was scrapped. These stringent economic measures meant that most parents could no longer afford to send children to school and given a choice they would again resort to sending male children at the expense of girls. Thus the new capitalist path of development followed by the government continued to sideline women.

The independence of Namibia and other developments in Eastern Europe led to the diversion of Donor Funds from Zimbabwe to the new areas where aid was desperately needed. Thus the shortage of funds meant that equity was no longer considered to be an issue and policies including educational ones, meant to achieve equity received no priority.

In August 1997 the Government of Zimbabwe got involved in the DRC conflict and financed that war using its own money at the expense of its own citizens. To further damage the crippled economy the government also paid some gratuities of about Z$50 000 to each war veteran. This led to the crash of the Zimbabwe Dollar in November 1997 and has also resulted in very high inflation rates. Ever since 1997 there has been a lot of economic hardships in Zimbabwe. To make matters even worse the self-styled war veterans are invading farms and factories. This has further ruined the ailing economy. Production in both agriculture and industry and commerce has gone down. The donor community has also withdrawn aid to Zimbabwe and claims to resume when the country respects the rule of law.

Another major problem in achieving gender equity in education is that, “despite women's increased access to schooling and extended years in education, the knowledge and skills they have acquired in school tend to reproduce rather than alter gender ideologies” (Stromquist 1995). For example, mission schools and Christian Universities like Solusi, Africa and Catholic Universities still emphasise on Christian values of male dominance and female subordination. The nursing and teaching professions are still dominated by women, and men still dominate professions like medicine, engineering and architecture among others.

Although a lot of strides have been made towards the promotion of gender equity in Zimbabwe, results of the SADC 2000 elections show that women are still grossly under represented in decision making positions. In Mauritius only 4 of the 62 contested seats were won by women and of the 4 elected women only one made it to cabinet. Also election results in Namibia and Malawi are worrisome. In Zimbabwe, of the 55 women who stood in the June 2000 parliamentary elections across the parties, only 13 were elected and only 2 were appointed by the president to make them 15 women only in a parliament of 150 members (Renaissance: February 2001). Furthermore, only one woman made it to cabinet in Zimbabwe. There are also only 2 female deputy ministers out of 7 and one provincial female governor out of 10. This clearly indicates that women in Zimbabwe have not risen enough to occupy decision-making positions to date. The government of Zimbabwe has made very little effort, if any, to promote more women into decision making positions. The results of the SADC 2000 elections make it even more difficult to achieve the 30% target of female representation in politics and economics by the year 2005.

Possible Intervention Strategies to Redress Gender Equity in Education

As has been discussed above, the Zimbabwean government put in place a number of policies soon after independence which were meant to achieve equity in general which culminated into gender equity in some cases. However, twenty one years down the lane, Zimbabwe is still very far from reaching the intended levels of gender equity. It is hoped that the following suggestions, if followed well, could improve the levels of gender equity, especially in education.

Gender Sensitisation in Schools and Tertiary Institutions

The school is viewed as one of the primary socializing agents (Haralambos 1995). One of its primary roles is to pass on norms and values of society to the younger generation. The government should introduce courses that are gender sensitive at all levels of the education system. As Stromquist (1995: 2409) has noted, “schools should offer courses for both boys and girls that address sexuality in its social context. The current school syllabi focus on anatomical and physiological features of sexuality, rather than the social dynamics of sexuality and how these dynamics tend to affect women negatively”. For those teachers still in colleges, the curriculum in Higher education needs to incorporate gender awareness programmes. Gender sensitive education needs to be introduced and enhanced so that those teachers will not perpetuate male dominance and female subordination in their lessons. Stromquist (1995) has also observed that in the US at tertiary level there are 621 women study programmes which offer approximately 30 000 gender sensitive courses per year. This may explain why the US has managed to make considerable strides in achieving gender equity at all levels.

Book publishers should be encouraged to publish reading material, which is free from gender bias. Bhusumane (1993:88) has observed that, “reading through most textbooks creates a feeling that men are creators and rulers of this world”. Also the prescribed History and Literature textbooks have more heroes than heroines. In Africa students are exposed to male leaders of Nationalist Movements like Kwame Nkurumah, Samora Machel, Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela and Joshua Nkomo among others. Students also read about men of fame from other parts of the world. These include Vasco DaGama, David Livingstone, Aristotle, Plato, Shakespeare and Socrates among others (Bhusumane 1993). Hence these book publishers should stop depicting men playing major roles and women occupying subordinate positions. Instead they should also focus on female heroes.

Furthermore, the government should introduce a thorough sex education programme in learning institutions as suggested by Stromquist (1995). Such programmes would assist in modifying preconceptions of femininity and masculinity. These sex education programmes should be introduced quite early in the school years because behavioural and attitudinal approaches to sexuality are best introduced in early childhood, at about 5 years of age. This approach has been used in Sweden and they have managed to do away with such gender biases to some extent (Stromquist 1995). Also parents should desist from buying girl children doll toys only but should go ahead and buy them toy cars, planes and guns just like they do to boy children. Children will learn that they are equal at an early age and as they grow up no sex group will feel to be either superior or inferior to the other.

Improving the Economic Status of Women

The government and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) should come up with educational programmes that will improve women's economic status. Once this is done women will be able to challenge men in all domains of life. As long as men remain the sole breadwinners nothing can be done in terms of promoting equity since women will continue to depend on men for food and shelter (Aribino 1996:14). As Makamure (1996:30) has noted the government should introduce measures of social support countrywide which will ensure that society in the form of families make greater efforts to support female children to succeed and develop more positive attitudes to their potential in Zimbabwean society.

Female Role Models

In Zimbabwe, teaching and nursing professions have been viewed as women's main professional areas. However, after independence, the Zimbabwean government has made an effort to absorb women in various sectors, which used to be viewed as mainly male domains. Despite the efforts made by the government there are still very few women found in these previously labelled as male domains. To enhance the speed at which women get into all forms of professions, there should be a massive mass media campaign, where women who have done it in life are depicted. This helps to create role models whom the younger women and girls can emulate (Anna-Maria 1997). On career's days held in schools, women who have made it in life should be lined up for school children (both boys and girls) to see and chat with. This will also make a male dominated patriarchal society appreciate that women are as good as men and can compete equally well with men in all spheres of life.

Proportional Representation

The policy of proportional representation of women and men should be introduced in all spheres of the economic sector. Enrolment at all levels in the education system should have about 51 % of the students being female since the Zimbabwean population comprises of approximately 51% women. It is hoped that if such proportional representations are implemented in the political, social and economic sectors, more women will be elevated into decision-making positions. The percentage of women in parliament is very low especially in SADC countries. SADC countries that have more female representatives in parliament, have used the proportional representation system. For example, in Tanzania women constitute 23% of parliament, in Mozambique, 28.6 %, South Africa 29.8% and Seychelles 24% (Renaissance February 2001). In view of these persistent discrepancies in gender equity, proportional representation can be of great importance in redressing the inequitable gender representation in Zimbabwe.

Affirmative Action (AA)

The Affirmative Action (AA) is not new in Zimbabwe. It was introduced in many sectors in the early 1990s. The reason why it has not yielded substantial results in terms of gender equity is that no mechanism was put in place to ensure that the policy was implemented. The government of Zimbabwe has not changed part of the UZ Act which states that no one should be admitted to the UZ or be employed in terms of sex, race and religion. So what is needed is to amend such Acts so that AA can be implemented in full force at institutions like the UZ. If AA is implemented it is likely to assist in improving the number of women entering into traditionally male dominated areas like engineering, medicine and law among others. Thus AA can be used as an uplifting programme for women.

Scholarships for Capable Women

Scholarship programmes that particularly target at promoting talented women should be boosted. Such scholarships will be a realistic and effective means of ensuring that a greater lot of women, especially in rural areas will proceed to tertiary education including University (Makamure 1996:7). Also events like The Miss Zimbabwe and Face Of Africa pageants should not only emphasise on charity work but should source out funds and award scholarships to women so that they can further their education. First Ladies of different countries should endeavour to raise money for the education of women. For example in Zimbabwe, The Sally Mugabe Foundation used to sponsor female students studying for higher degrees in the sub-region. Such programmes should not die a natural death but have to be revived. Also spouses of Zimbabwean ambassadors and female ambassadors should source out funds to sponsor women's education. This is possible because ambassadors usually have the confidence of the governments to which they are accredited. Multi-national companies like Coca-cola, Caltex, BP and Shell among others should be encouraged to set up scholarships that will particularly benefit women. The government should institute legal instruments which will enable companies sponsoring women to pay a very insignificant amount of tax. NGOs operating in the country should follow the example of UNICEF and UNESCO that are already working towards the emancipation of women.

Improving the Quality of Education in Commercial Farming Areas

Since more women and girls are concentrated in commercial farming areas where they provide a very good source of cheap labour, the government should make sure that the quality of education offered in commercial farming areas has been improved. It should again institute legal instruments which compel farmers to provide education of acceptable standard (Chikombah 1999). It should also help by improving the infrastructure at farm schools. Farmers who improve the quality of education offered at their schools and those who have high numbers of female enrolment should be given incentives to keep the momentum.

Conclusion

Today in Zimbabwe, there is the fast track land redistribution where a number of families are likely to translocate to new settlements which do not have the basic infrastructure. As a result, many school going age children are likely to be out of school due to lack of nearby schools. In the process, more girls and women are likely to be affected and thus stifling the educational gender equity plans put in place by the government. The extent to which these land distribution programmes affect achievement of gender equity in education is one of the new areas which needs to be explored. In general, more has to be done at both legislative and operational levels to enhance achievement of gender equity in education. In particular, the government of Zimbabwe should monitor policy implementation for meaningful redress in education to be achieved.

References

Correspondence : Enna S. Gudhlanga, Zimbabwe Open University, Mat North Region, Box 3997 Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. e-mail address: gudhlangaes@yahoo.com OR Owence Chabaya, Zimbabwe Open University, Bulawayo Region, Box 3550, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. e-mail address: chabaya@yahoo.com

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This paper was presented at the Southern African Society for Education 27th Annual Conference 6-8 September 2001. The theme of the conference was: Education for all: Opportunities and challenges - its sub-theme was: Equity and redress in education. It was submitted for publication on this website by its authors who are members of the Feminist Studies Network.

**Owence Chabaya
Zimbabwe Open University
Bulawayo Region
P O Box 3550
Bulawayo
Zimbabwe
Phone: 263 9 68663
Fax: 263 9 70871
Cell No: 263 91 356 868
e-mail: chabaya@yahoo.com

Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga
Zimbabwe Open University
Matabeleland North Region
P O Box 3997
Bulawayo
Zimbabwe
Phone: 263 9 70790
Tel/Fax: 263 9 70790
Cell No: 263 91 382 376
e-mail: gudhlangaes@yahoo.com