The effects of economic instability on teachers in decentralized secondary school in Zimbabwe: A Case of Mashonaland Central Province
- March 19, 2022
- Posted by: rsispostadmin
- Categories: Education, IJRISS, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue II, February 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
Tapfuiwa J Katsinde
Department of Peace and Governance
Bindura University Of Science Education
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to analyse the effects of economic instability on teachers in decentralized secondary schools in Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2017. This study used habitus and social capital as a conceptual framework. This was a qualitative study, which made use of a multi-case research design. Data was collected using focus group discussions, interviews and document analysis. Eight research sites in the form of secondary schools in four districts were used. Data analysis was done using theoretical prepositions guided by research objectives and research questions. Data presentation was characterised by quotes of participants. The study revealed that economic instability had negative results in the field of secondary schools. Economic instability negatively affected teaching and learning. In addition, economic instability affected individual secondary school teachers psychologically as their social status was battered. Economic instability affected relations between teachers and other secondary school actors by aggravating already existing contestations. Economic instability forced teachers to resort to other activities in order to survive the economic situation, which negatively affected teaching and learning. The study has shown that decentralized secondary schools found it difficult to solve the problems brought about by economic instability especially when the instabilities occurred within the difficulties of the broader Zimbabwean context. It is recommended that decentralized secondary schools should be assisted financially and with resources to withstand economic challenges. Further similar research is recommended for other provinces in the country.
Key words: economic instability, effects, habitus, social capital, field, decentralized secondary schools.
Introduction
The economy of Zimbabwe recorded a growth between 1980 and 1990 as pointed out by Mazingi and Kambidzi (2011:328) who said that the “first decade of independence witnessed an average growth rate of about 11%.” However, as the first decade was coming to an end the country began to experience some economic problems, which resulted in the government resorting to the Economic Structural Adjustment Program (ESAP) as, prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) (Ncube, 2000, Murisa, 2010). The results of ESAP were negative especially for provision of social services like education and health, as citizens were now required to pay for these in full without the state subsidizing (Murisa, 2010). The economic situation was worsened by worker retrenchments in both the public sector and private sector because of ESAP (Ncube, 2000, Murisa, 2010). The second decade of independence also experienced other problems that exacerbated the economic situation: droughts, the land reform program, the involvement of the Zimbabwe army in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and unbudgeted gratuities for the war veterans. (AfDB/OECD 2003, Murisa, 2010).
The Zimbabwean government in the 1990s introduced measures based on structural adjustment programmes as advised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). The measures led to far reaching consequences on how government institutions were governed. One such measure introduced in education was decentralisation. One measure taken by the government was to cut costs in the provision of social services such as education. The government moved from a highly centralized school system (Reynolds cited in Chikoko, 2006) to a decentralized education system epitomized by giving power to School Development Committees (SDC) in non-government schools and to School Development Associations (SDA) in government schools. Thus by a legal instrument, Statutory Instrument 87 of 1992, each primary and secondary school ran its own financial and other governance issues. The main government roles in schools that remained were the payment of teachers’ salaries and standards control. The Zimbabwean government hoped that a decentralized school system would also reduce costs, improve pass rates, help develop schools and improve the quality of education.
