Quantitative Developments, Quality and Equity Concerns in Zimbabwean Primary and Secondary Education Sectors.

A journal article.Whilst Zimbabwe has achieved significant quantitative developments in education, little has been achieved in providing equal access to quality education in the whole education sector. The poor communities continue to struggle on with poor teacher quality, inadequate instructional materials, and poor school facilities. Gender discrimination is on the increase with less, female students attending school and with more of this small group dropping out of school. The quality of education has significantly declined and this signals a serious potential problem of high illiteracy levels, especially among women

What causes differences in achievement in Zimbabwe's secondary schools?

The authors found that students who attended high-fee-paying (trust) schools, elite urban governments schools, and mission schools scored better in mathematics and English achievement than did students in the less-well-endowed government schools and those established by local councils. Much of the variation in the student achievement was attributable to the schools the student attended. Examination results were higher in schools with a high proportion of trained teachers, with a good supply of textbooks, and with a stable faculty (high teacher retention). But once researcher control for these factors, contrary to expectations, some underendowed local council and government schools are more effective at boosting achievement than their counterparts with more resources. So, textbooks and teachers are important in raising achievement, but more research is needed into what characteristics differentiate high-achieving schools from low-achieving schools.Teaching and Learning,Gender and Education,Primary Education,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Girls Education

Rural-urban differences in breast-feeding and feeding practices of children by black Zimbabwean parents

A study on the rural-urban differences in breast-feeding practices by black Zimbabwean parents.This study investigated the attitudes, values, beliefs, and practices of black Zimbabwean parents towards breast-feeding and child-feeding. Child rearing practices of parents {fathers and mothers) with children in preschools and in lower grades of primary school were studied. The evidence in this study showed that more rural than urban parents breast-fed their children for longer periods when the children were still young. The breast-feeding period ranged from six months to two years. Evidence also showed that uneducated rural parents were more likely to stop breast-feeding for medical reasons while the urban educated parents were more likely to stop breast-feeding for work reasons

A Comparative Analysis Of Student Achievement By School Type In Zimbabwe Secondary Schools

A ZJER comparative analysis of student performance by school type in Zimbabwe.The purpose of this study was to determine statistical differences in levels of student performance in ZJC English and Mathematics between six secondary school types in Zimbabwe. 5293 Form 2 students who wrote ZJC examinations in 33 secondary schools in 1989 participated in the study. As predicted, students in high fee paying schools performed better in both English and Mathematics than students in former group A, former group B (urban and rural), mission and rural district council schools. While students in former group A schools performed better in English than students in mission, former group B (urban and rural), and rural district council schools, the situation in Mathematics was different. Students in mission schools performed significantly better in Mathematics than their counterparts in former group A schools who performed significantly better than students in former group B (urban and rural) and rural district council schools. Evidence from the study shows that students in former group B urban schools performed significantly better in English than students in former group B urban schools contrary to the postulated prediction. A startling finding was that rural district council schools performed in Mathematics as well as former group B urban schools despite the critical shortages in human, financial and instructional resources constraining them

Skimmed milk as a determinant of vitamin A deficiency

Objective: To compare the levels of vitamin A in ultra-high temperature treated (UHT) whole milk (3.5% fat) and UHT skimmed milk (0.5% fat) using UV-visible light spectrophotometry and to compare the contribution of whole milk and skimmed milk to the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin A.Design: Paired samples of liquid whole milk and liquid skimmed milk were used. Sampling and analysis were performed by different individuals to achieve a randomised blind design.Outcome measures: Thirty paired samples (n = 30) of whole milk and skimmed milk were evaluated for vitamin A content using UV-visible light spectrophotometry at 328 nm.Results: Absolute concentration of vitamin A was reduced from 208.830 ± 0.083 μg/L in whole milk to 35.855 ± 0.046 μg/L in skimmed milk. The 85.7% reduction in butterfat content from 3.5% in whole milk to 0.5% in skimmed milk was accompanied by an 82.824 ± 3.51% (mean ± SD) reduction in retinol content.Conclusion: The contribution of milk to the RDA for vitamin A was reduced from the standard 7.6% for whole milk to 1.30% for skimmed milk with 0.5% fat. The results emphasise the need for fortification of skimmed milk with vitamin A in order to augment the prevention of vitamin A deficiency diseases in developing countries.Keywords: recommended dietary allowance, skimmed milk, vitamin A, whole mil

The School Head as an Instructional Leader in Zimbabwe Secondary Schools

A Zimbabwe Journal of Educational Research (ZJER) article.This paper presents evidence obtained from a survey of secondary school heads in government schools, church schools, and rural day schools about functions performed by those heads, characteristics of secondary school heads and problems constraining heads from discharging their duties effectively and efficiently. The evidence shows that: 1. The majority of rural secondary schools are administered by inexperienced and lowly qualified and untrained heads who also' have heavy teaching loads. 2. The majority of school heads possess minimal or no knowledge in technical subjects, a situation which appears not supportive of the implementation of the policy of vocationalization of secondary school education. 3. While the thrust in secondary school education is on technical education, school heads do not consider the training of students in technical fields as a top priority for secondary schools. To the contrary, heads consider character building and preparation for post-secondary programmes as top priorities for secondary schools. 4. Secondary school heads devote most of their time on administrative duties thereby neglecting the critical activities in the curriculum and instructional domains

Attained mathematics curriculum in Zimbabwe primary schools

A ZJER article on the attained mathematics curriculum of primary schools in Zimbabwe.This article presents a research on the attained mathematics curriculum in Zimbabwe primary schools conducted in 1981. The major findings are that: (i) The majority of Grade Seven pupils proceed into the secondary school level with very limited mathematical background, especially in those areas that constitute the foundation for secondary school mathematics. (ii) The majority of Grade Seven pupils show very weak understanding of key mathematical concepts such as number, fraction, place value, perimeter, area, and volume. (iii) The Grade Seven pupils’ levels of competence in the key processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are very low especially in problems involving combinations of whole numbers, proper and improper fractions, decimals and mixed numbers. (iv) Most Grade Seven pupils show very low ability to apply mathematical ideas to real life problems even those involving practical concepts such as gain, loss, interest, discount and sales tax

Parental knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding overweight among preschool children in rural Zimbabwe

Parents have significant influence in the development of children’s eating behaviour and food choices. Their knowledge and attitudes towards nutritional status play an important part in childhood growth, as parents become role models in shaping children’s eating habits. The aim of this study was to assess parental knowledge and attitudes towards childhood nutritional status and evaluate the relationship between eating habits, knowledge and attitudes of parents. A cross-sectional study was conducted in five districts of Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe. A total of 241 parents of preschool children were selected using multi-stage sampling technique. Questionnaires were administered to parents who gathered at the selected primary schools in the Districts. Data was analysed using SPSS version 16 (2007) and MS Excel. Spearman’s Coefficient Correlation at a 95% significance level was used to measure the strength of linear association between knowledge and attitude score as well as education level, gender and food consumption scores. Results showed that parents in Mashonaland East Province of Zimbabwe had a poor to moderate nutrition knowledge and understanding of the causes of overweight among preschool children. There was a significant association between education level of parents and nutrition knowledge scores attained (p = 0.028). Food consumption score was significantly associated with knowledge score (p = 0.008). Furthermore, 0.4% of the parents with good nutrition knowledge had acceptable food consumption scores. This study showed that most parents (83.4%) were knowledgeable about the concept of a balanced diet. However, this was not translated into practice as 72% of the parents had poor to borderline food consumption score. Nutrition gaps identified in this study included failure by parents to link skipping breakfast to overweight among children and that exclusive breast feeding contributes to weight reduction. Parents did not acknowledge that eating at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables is beneficial in maintaining healthy body weight and that being overweight is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes mellitus. The results further demonstrated that parents in the province require additional nutrition knowledge to help curb overweight among preschool children by giving appropriate nutritious foods.Keywords: Parents, children, knowledge, attitude, food consumption score, weight, nutritional statu

Barriers to HIV service utilisation by people living with HIV in two provinces of Zimbabwe: Results from 2016 baseline assessment

Background: The emergence of antiretroviral therapy (ART) transformed HIV from a terminal illness to a chronic disease. However, limited access to health services remains one of many barriers to HIV service utilisation by people living with HIV (PLHIV) in low-resource settings. The goal of this study was to describe the barriers to HIV service utilisation in two provinces of Zimbabwe. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with PLHIV and village health workers (VHW) in eight districts within the two provinces. Convenience sampling was used to select the participants. This sampling was limited to communities supported by health facilities with more than 500 PLHIV enrolled into HIV care and treatment. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcripts were subjected to thematic content analysis. Results: A total of 22 community focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted. Barriers to using HIV services cited in PLHIV and VHW FGDs were similar. These were categorised as health system-related barriers, which include user fees, long waiting times, lack of confidentiality and negative attitudes by healthcare providers, and lack of consistent community-based HIV services. Community-related barriers cited were stigma and discrimination, food insecurity, distance to facilities and counterproductive messaging from religious sectors. Client-related factors reported were inadequate male involvement in HIV-related activities and defaulting after symptoms improved. Conclusion: Our assessment has indicated that there are several barriers to the utilisation of HIV services by PLHIV in the two provinces of Zimbabwe. As new strategies and programmes are being introduced in the current resource-constrained era, efforts should be made to understand the needs of the clients. If programmes are designed with an effort to address some of these challenges, there is a possibility that countries will quickly achieve the 90-90-90 targets set by The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS