In Zimbabwe, Academic Year is Canceled

Scary news from Zimbabwe, where Mugabe has completed an almost total shutdown of the education system. Here’s the gist from The Times:

President Mugabe became an African hero of rare distinction when he carried out a big expansion of the education system in the early years of his rule. As with most of the country’s infrastructure, that system is now in the process of total collapse.

In the mid-1990s there was a national O-level pass rate of 72 per cent. Last year it crashed to 11 per cent. Many schools recorded zero passes.

To avoid the humiliation of total failure in 2008 the Government has cancelled the academic year. “It would be criminal if the Government allows examinations to go ahead,” Raymond Majongwe, the secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe, said.

 ~ Guest blogger Elizabeth Green