Goromonzi High School. Image credit wordpress.com

ZIMSEC O Level History Notes: The Struggle for Independence in Colonial Zimbabwe: Social Grievances

  • It was the second major grievance that the Africans held towards settlers
  • Education was compulsory for whites but this was not extended to blacks
  • African education was left in the hands of the missionaries and Africans themselves
  • The first governmental school was built in 1946 at Goromonzi
  • Todd Garfield’s somewhat progressive policy in education could not achieve much and included:
    1. It increased the number of government schools
    2. It separated the African education from African Affairs Department, having its own unit and Secretary
    3. It gave mission schools grants to introduce 4-year secondary courses
    4. It led to the building of 3 secondary schools in urban areas with 508 pupils by 1960
  • The reforms were however reversed by Edgar Whitehead under the Federation
  • The coming in of Ian Smith in 1964 also saw drastic changes in the African educational system
  • Teacher enrollment was reduced and the budget for African schools was cut
  • High school fees increased and this decreased enrolment
  • The bottleneck method was introduced at Grade 5 and 7 to reduce the number of those who passed these stages
  • There was a big gap between black and European education, for example, in 1969 the colonial government spent £9 per child whilst spending  £103 per European child
  • Education for Africans was believed to be for literacy only
  • Many guerillas who participated in the Second Chimurenga did so because they been denied education
  • The second Chimurenga is also associated with grievances of racial discrimination
  • African lived in dire poverty and were also faced with poor working conditions
  • Poverty was very high in the rural areas as the lands there were not productive

To access more topics go to the History Notes page.

Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge