Connect with us

Slider

Brain drain: Zimbabwe fears losing teachers to the UK

Published

on

After an exodus of nurses, Zimbabwe now faces losing its teachers as a new British recruitment policy threatens a fresh brain drain in the southern African country confronting a devastated economy.

A British government update posted earlier this month listed teachers who qualified in Zimbabwe as eligible to apply directly for “qualified status” — allowing succesful candidates to go straight into classrooms without further training.

Advertisement

The new policy, which the British government says will boost “opportunities for highly qualified teachers wherever they trained”, will begin in February 2023 and also applies to teachers who qualified in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa.

For decades Zimbabwe’s education system was respected as one of the best on the continent — one of the few accomplishments of former president Robert Mugabe’s regime.

Years of unstinting economic decline blamed mainly on misgovernance have taken off the shine but the country still retains a pool of highly educated and skilled teachers.

Advertisement

Yet, like most public workers, they earn meagre salaries. Some have already moved to other countries including South Africa and Rwanda.

“This is great news,” said Nyasha, a teacher who asked to be identified only by her first name. “The conditions here are unbearable.”

In Zimbabwe teachers can make up to 50 000 Zimbabwean dollars ($75) a month, a tiny fraction of what they can hope to earn in Britain, Zimbabwe’s former colonial ruler.

Advertisement

Qualified teachers in England, where the cost of living is significantly higher, are paid at least £2 300 ($2 800) per month according to the Department for Education.

But an analysis by Schools Week, an outlet covering the sector, suggested just 73 percent of a key recruiting target for new teachers in English secondary schools would be met this year.

Some in Zimbabwe have warned that the prospect of its teachers relocating to the UK threatened to tip over an already wobbly schooling system.

Advertisement

‘What will happen?’

“Where does that leave us as a country?” asked Obert Masaraure, the head of a rural teachers’ union.

Zimbabwe, with a population of 15 million people of which 41 percent are under the age of 14, has about 150000 teachers for more than 10 000 schools.

Advertisement

The government says that it is at least 25,000 short of the number required.

“If we all leave, what will happen to our own children?” asked Tafadzwa Munodawafa, who leads another educators’ union fighting for better pay.

The education ministry refused to comment saying the government was unaware of the United Kingdom’s recruiting policy.

Advertisement

To try to stem an outflow of doctors and nurses, who have moved aboard en masse in recent years, authorities have made it more difficult to obtain the necessary paperwork to prove their qualifications.

But some say this misses the point.

“Government should do the right thing and prioritise paying our professionals well so that we can stem the brain drain,” Dr Henry Madzorera, a former health minister and opposition official, said.

Advertisement

The latest statistics from Zimbabwe’s health watchdog show that over 4 000 healthcare workers resigned from public institutions in the year to November with many thought to have emigrated-AFP

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

National

Coal train in flames: NRZ locomotive damaged in fire incident

Published

on

BY WANDILE TSHUMA 

A National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) locomotive suffered significant damage after catching fire while transporting export coal to Zambi. The incident occurred between Kalala and Matetsi sidings, resulting in the explosion of the locomotive’s fuel tanks.

Advertisement

According to the NRZ press statement on Monday, “A National Railways of Zimbabwe locomotive suffered some damages after it caught fire this afternoon while transporting export coal to Zambia.” Fortunately, the crew members on board managed to escape unharmed.

The NRZ responded swiftly to the incident, dispatching a rescue train with crews to the site. The team successfully extinguished the fire, preventing further damage. However, the locomotive itself sustained considerable damage.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, with investigations currently underway. “Investigations are already underway to establish the cause of the fire and the amount of damage to the locomotive,” the NRZ statement read.

Advertisement

Continue Reading

In the community

Human-wildlife conflict claims 18 lives in Zimbabwe’s first quarter

Published

on

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has reported a disturbing trend of human-wildlife conflict in the country’s first quarter of 2025. According to the authority, 18 people have lost their lives, and 32 others have been injured in encounters with wildlife.

Advertisement

ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo revealed that the authority received 579 cases of human-wildlife conflict, which they managed to respond to promptly. The incidents have also resulted in significant livestock losses, with at least 53 cattle and 85 goats killed by wildlife.

The districts most affected by these incidents include Binga, Hwange, Kariba, Chiredzi, Hurungwe, Nyaminyami, and Mbire. ZimParks has been working tirelessly to raise awareness about wildlife behaviors and effective preventive measures in these areas.

In response to the crisis, ZimParks has translocated 129 animals back into protected areas and eliminated 158 animals deemed problematic.

Advertisement

“We encourage communities to continue reporting incidents to ZimParks Problem Animal Control numbers and local leadership, such as Councillors, Traditional Leaders, and Rural District Council Authorities, to ensure that we preserve lives,” Farawo urged.

The significant increase in livestock losses, with cattle deaths rising from 18 to 53 and goat deaths from 21 to 85 compared to the same period in 2024, highlights the growing challenge of human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe.

ZimParks’ efforts to mitigate the conflict include community initiatives to educate people on managing wildlife encounters effectively.

Advertisement

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Slider

Tens of Thousands in Zimbabwe Go Hungry as the Rains — and US Aid — Hold Back

Published

on

Tanayeishe Musau eats baobab porridge after school at his home in Mudzi, Zimbabwe, where the dish has become a daily staple amid worsening drought and hunger. Once a simple supplement, baobab porridge is now a primary meal for families like his, following widespread food shortages and the suspension of international aid.

BY LINDA MUJURU

This story was originally published by Global Press Journal.

Advertisement

Agnes Tauzeni stands on her parched field. She is a mother to two children, and is expecting another. But now, in a time that might otherwise have been joyful, her hopes wither like the struggling crops before her.

 

Three times she’s gambled on the rains; three times the sky has betrayed her. Her first two plantings failed. The soil was too dry to sustain life. Though her third attempt yielded a few weak shoots, they offered little promise of a meaningful harvest. El Niño-driven droughts have disrupted once-reliable rains, leaving Tauzeni’s family and many like hers struggling to feed themselves.

Advertisement

 

“I am always hungry,” Tauzeni says.

 

Advertisement

She worries about the health of her unborn child, based on how little nutrition she consumes herself.

 

Adding to this, food aid, previously funded by the US Agency for International Development, halted suddenly in January. That transformed what was already a struggle into a desperate battle for survival.

Advertisement

 

The food aid ended when US President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order that paused nearly all US foreign aid, most of which was administered by USAID. That agency is now all but defunct.

 

Advertisement

Food aid in Zimbabwe was an ongoing area of funding for USAID. In November 2024, the agency announced $130 million for two seven-year programs, implemented by CARE and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, that would provide food aid and other related support to areas of Zimbabwe most in need. The programs, which stopped, were just part of an ongoing slate of activities designed to help Zimbabwe’s neediest people.

 

About 7.6 million people in Zimbabwe — nearly half the country’s population — need humanitarian assistance, according to a 2025 UNICEF report. Of those, nearly 6 million, like Tauzeni, rely on subsistence farming.

Advertisement

 

Through the support of organizations with funding from USAID, people previously received cereals, edible seeds, oil and food vouchers.

 

Advertisement

“A sudden withdrawal can put the entire community in a dire situation,” says Hilton Mbozi, a seed systems and climate change expert.

 

Tauzeni recalls that her community used to receive food supplies such as beans, cooking oil and peanut butter to help combat malnutrition.

Advertisement

 

When Tauzeni got married in 2017, her fields promised abundance. Her harvests were plentiful, and her family never lacked food. Now, those memories feel like whispers from another world. The past two agricultural seasons, those harvests have been devastatingly poor.

 

Advertisement

With an empty granary and dwindling options, Tauzeni’s family survives on the same food every day: baobab porridge in the morning and sadza with wild okra in the evening. But Tauzeniworries whether even this will be on the table in the coming months.

 

“The little maize I have, I got after weeding someone else’s crops, but that won’t take us far,” she says.

Advertisement

 

Tauzeni says a 20-kilogram (44-pound) bag of maize costs US$13 in her village, an amount out of reach for her. Her only source of income is farming. When that fails, she has no money at all.

 

Advertisement

Hunger like Tauzeni experiences is widespread. Some families now eat just once a day.

 

Headman David Musau, leader of Musau village where Tauzenilives, says some people in his village did not plant any seeds this season, fearing losses due to the low rainfall. The government provides food aid inconsistently, usually 7 kilograms (15 pounds) of wheat per person for three months.

Advertisement

 

“It’s not enough, but it helps,” he says.

 

Advertisement

But without any other food aid, survival is at stake, he says. “People will die in the near future.”

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2022 VicFallsLive. All rights reserved, powered by Advantage