An exploration of the Performance Lag Address Programme (PLAP) in addressing Literacy in primary schools: the case of Tsholotsho District in Zimbabwe

An exploration of the Performance Lag Address Programme (PLAP) in addressing Literacy in primary schools: the case of Tsholotsho District in Zimbabwe

Nhlanhla Sibanda¹, Bhekinkosi Ndlovu^2
1Department of Languages and Literature, Zimbabwe Open University, Zimbabwe
²Schools Psychological Services, Matabeleland North Province, Zimbabwe

Abstract: The standard of education in Matabeleland North has deteriorated to the extent that the province has over the years recorded the lowest pass rate at Grade Seven level in the country. Owing to the persistent high failure rate, the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture introduced the Performance Lag Address Programme (PLAP). It is in this guise that this study focussed on the challenges and opportunities of the performance Lag Address Programme introduced to address suppressed literacy levels and high failure rate in primary schools. The study used a qualitative approach taking into cognisance the versatility of this approach in generation of appropriate descriptive information on the phenomenon under study. A case study design was chosen focussing mainly on Tsholotsho District in Matabeleland North Province. Purposive sampling and convenient sampling techniques were used to identify the teachers and Ministry of Education Officials to discuss PLAP programme implementation. The findings of the study revealed that scepticism by the teachers regarding the thrust and feasibility of the programme hindered its effective implementation. The study recommended that teachers should be equipped sufficiently to be effective in PLAP implementation. Furthermore, there is need for capital injection, expanse resource mobilisation and a multi-stakeholder approach to propel the programme to success.

Key Words: Performance Lag Address, implementation, resources, literacy

I. INTRODUCTION

Ageneral overview of the conditions of socio-economic and political nature besetting Zimbabwe prior to the onset of Performance Lag Address Programme (PLAP) has become of necessity in this study. Over recent years, political turmoil and economic collapse in Zimbabwe have received plenty of attention and coverage. At the same time, however, a crisis in the country’s once well-regarded education sector has been developing more quietly, even though its implications could be as significant for Zimbabwe’s future. Amidst national unrest, teaching was disrupted from 2006 to 2009, and with few mechanisms to help pupils catch up or re-take years, when they returned thousands found themselves unable to gain a meaningful education. Also underfunded and under-resourced, in 2011, a tide of schools recorded a zero per cent pass rate in national ordinary (‘O-level’) examinations. Now, Zimbabwe, as observed by Chiketo (2013), faces the serious challenges of dealing with a damaged education system in which thousands of pupils are at higher levels than they can cope with, and a lost generation of young people many of whom were left unskilled and uneducated.

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