Open Letter to His Excellency President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa
Your Excellency, when you took the oath of office, you promised to leave no one behind and to safeguard the future of our children.
Yet today, as schools prepare to open on the 9th of September, parents are struggling to raise fees, teachers are failing to report to work, and learners are disenchanted
by the very education system once regarded as the pride of Africa.
Mr President, our education used to be the foundation of national pride.
The US$2 billion in annual diaspora remittances are testimony to the strength of the educated Zimbabweans who found elite jobs abroad.
The relative calm our people maintain in the midst of poverty is a reflection of an educated society that has relied on knowledge, not violence to express itself.
However, under your presidency, these hard-won gains are sadly being reversed.
In 2016, Zimbabwe invested over 20% of the national budget into basic education.
Since you assumed office in 2017, allocation has never again reached 15%.
Teachers who once earned US$540 monthly saw their wages collapse to US$30 at the peak of austerity and today remain at a meagre US$300.
The Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), which was a safety net for vulnerable learners, has crumbled because your government perpetually fails to disburse funds.
In 2024, the tragedy was complete when BEAM allocations were diverted to luxuries for Heads of State instead of supporting our children.
Your Excellency, these excruciating consequences are devastating.
Nearly 50,000 learners dropped out of school in 2024.
40 % of candidates face exclusion from this year’s public examinations because the sad reality is that they cannot pay the fees.
An estimated 3 million learners and students are currently out of school.
Our education system is excluding the sons and daughters of peasants and workers, the very people your “leave no one behind” mantra claims to protect.
This collapse is not accidental; it is the result of systematic neglect and misplaced priorities.
Section 75 of the Constitution mandates the State to fund basic education, yet this duty has been neglected.
We propose urgent solutions:
* Scrap BEAM and replace it with per-capita education grants distributed on an equity basis.
* Maintain cost-sharing, but where parents cannot afford, government must fully fund education, particularly in P2, P3, S2, and S3 schools.
* Government must assume full responsibility for examination costs. ZIMSEC should not operate as a commercial entity, but as part of the Ministry of Education.
Teacher attrition is another rampant national crisis.
Zimbabwe is losing 1,200 teachers every month.
By comparison, Zambia retains its educators not because salaries are vastly higher, but because teachers are respected as partners and enjoy collective bargaining rights.
In Zimbabwe, our teachers are treated as adversaries of the state.
We recommend:
1. Amend the Public Service Act to guarantee collective bargaining and protect teachers’ right to job action.
2. Regularly review salaries and reintroduce incentives, including hardship allowances in disadvantaged schools.
3. Support teachers and civil servants with debt clearance through the National Building Society.
4. Expand scholarships for professional development.
5. Provide land to trade unions for residential development for their members.
Infrastructure remains a shameful indictment of our system.
In 2025, children are still learning under trees. Over 80% of schools lack reliable electricity or internet. Laboratories are absent, making STEM education an empty slogan.
Books for the Heritage-Based Curriculum are unavailable, crippling the teaching process.
We propose:
* Establish an Education Equalization Fund supported by the Universal Service Fund, Rural Electrification Fund, and a levy on mining activities, disbursed through local authorities.
* Build one STEM academy per ward using local resources and best learners absorbed at ward level.
* Deploy “internet in a box” digital libraries to every school to ensure access to study materials.
Finally, curriculum reform must be continuous and informed by stakeholders.
A static curriculum in a dynamic world leaves our children unprepared.
Your Excellency, as things stand, the reopening of schools will be a national embarrassment. Parents, teachers, and learners are all unprepared.
We therefore urge you to instruct your Minister of Education to convene a National Education Stakeholders Conference to urgently chart a way forward.
Zimbabwe cannot afford to abandon its children.
History will not forgive a leader who presided over the collapse of the very system that once secured our dignity and global respect.
The people are watching.
Our children are crying out.
The question, Mr President, is whether you will listen.
By Obert Masaraure
On behalf of the disenfranchised learners, parents, and teachers of Zimbabwe.