Maggie Freese at Africa University: Visits to Zimbabwean Schools 1/27/2012

Today I visited three schools around Mutare, accompanying a colleague who was there to check on progress and pay tuition for several students supported by her friends in Germany. The first school was Mt. Cheremba, a rural high school. The head master told us enrollment is well over 200. The first year has more than 80 students in a single classroom, and by the fourth year the 40 some students fit into a double car garage with the big door removed to let the light in. The student we were there to visit came from another less demanding school and is struggling here. She is described as “below average” and “passive.” Her parents have both died. She lives with a “grandmother” who is not her biological relative and is assisted to some degree by another grandmother who is hers biologically. This is a very poor school with few materials. It is in ZANU-PF dominated land, not very friendly to white folks. My colleague suggested I not try to take photos. The teachers at this and all other public schools are officially on strike for better pay. All but one of the teachers signed in on this morning, however, and I only saw one leave after that. The teachers said they are paid about $250/month. Teachers in the cities can earn more like $350/month because families are charged extra fees on top of tuition, but the rural people struggle with basic tuition costs ($30/semester plus a uniform at this school), so there is no supplemental income for the teachers.

Then we went to St. James, and Anglican school nearby. Here the class sizes are consistently in the 40’s through grade school and high school. The student we were visiting has a family living 55 km. away. She could not get into the school closest to her, Hartzell High School at the Old Mutare Mission, because her test scores were not quite high enough for that very competitive school. Her current arrangement is that she buses to St. James at the beginning of the week. Her family pays a woman who lives nearby $4 a month for a bed for her. She lives in a hut with another girl and three boys who all go to school at St. James. They bring their own food and have a place to cook. She collaborates with the other girl for cooking. At the end of the school week she buses home to have the weekend with her family and replenish her food supply for the next week. This girl, 14, wants to become a lawyer. Her test scores are very high, as are her current marks.

Finally we went to Hartzell School at the Old Mutare Mission, within sight of the campus of Africa University. Here there were five sponsored students, four in elementary school and one in Early Childhood Development (ECD). I learned that that is like our kindergarten, and was made compulsory as a starting point for school two years ago. As a result, there are many 6-year-olds and some 7-year-olds in this class because it is their first year in school. I took photos. These are for the Early Childhood Mental Health people following my blog. Think about these the next time you complain about not having supplies!