Rural Learners Suffer as Ruling Elites Indulge in Luxury
By Loyd Matare
A devastating reality has unfolded in Zimbabwe’s rural areas, where learners are being denied their fundamental right to education and forced to endure the harsh realities of a crumbling education system whilst the ruling elite revel in their luxurious vehicles.
The stark contrast between the haves and have-nots is a poignant reminder of a system that has lost its way.
While cabinet ministers indulge in the finer things in life, rural schools are left to grapple with inadequate infrastructure, improper furniture, and a general air of neglect.
The cries of these forgotten learners have been drowned out by the sound of elitist extravagance, leaving one to wonder: what is the true cost of luxury when learning is left to suffer?
Speaking to AfroGazette news, Obert Masaraure, the leader of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), says the education sector is suffering from a lack of planning and vision by the government and local authorities.
“We have noted a worrying and disgusting trend in recent years where the ruling elites are so determined to insulate themselves from the impact of the mess they created.
“Excessive taxation is a package of the austerity measures that ruling elites imposed on Zimbabwe as a solution to the economic crisis. The authors of austerity should pay tax like anyone and everyone. Why would the Doctor refuse to take the prescription they recommend to everyone for an ailment the Doctor also suffers.
“The ruling elites are hypocrites. They design a taxation model which they don’t participate in. They run public hospitals but they are treated in private and other elite healthcare facilities, they run ZIMSEC exams but their children consume Cambridge. They run public schools but their children either access quality education from elite private schools or exotic centers.
“All the luxuries are sponsored by tax payers wallowing in extreme poverty. The education sector like many sectors is screaming for help. The solution to education financing is not in heavy taxation but state planning.
“Zimbabwe needs an efficient corrupt free State bureaucracy run by leaders governing in service of the people not oligarchs and multinational companies. The State should efficiently run the commanding heights of the economy and provide social services to all people,” Masaraure said.
In 2019 President Emmerson Mnangagwa commended the Education Amendment Bill which was meant to re-introduce the concept of free education.
The President also emphasized that no child in Zimbabwe should be denied access to education as the new law will penalize any parent who prevented their child from attending school.
Recently, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Torerayi Moyo announced that Zimbabwe has set an ambitious target to build 120 new schools across the country for this year alone.
However, Masaraure refuted the claims asserting that Moyo should first disclose the names of the 105 schools he allegedly built in 2024.
“Torerayi Moyo should first avail the names of the 105 schools he claims to have constructed in 2024. Without the names of the 105 schools, we treat his message as empty talk from a clown who thinks that the education crisis may be resolved through propaganda.
“The education sector is in crisis across all geographical boundaries because of incompetence, neglect and corruption. Rural areas endure more glaring hardships born out of years of marginalization. Ruling elites pay lip service to the crisis but they have neither capacity nor interest to address the deep-rooted challenges,” he added.
This demand for transparency highlights the need for accountability in the education sector, particularly when it comes to grand promises and ambitious targets.
