The Impact of Basic Education on the Quality of Zimbabwe’s Secondary School Education

In Zimbabwe, ‘O’ Level education is embraced in the concept of basic education. The concept entails that primary school completers automatically progress into Form One, notwithstanding their Primary School Leaving Examination results. This has resulted in an increase in the progression rate of Grade Seven completers into Form One. While proponents of equality and equity in education may view this as a giant step towards equalisation of educational opportunities, there may be deep fears in some circles that the quantitative increase may compromise quality. The unprecedented increase in Form One enrollment has drastically changed the academic profile of Form One classes, resulting in the creation of wider ability ranges. Invariably, this has organisational and didactic implications. This study explored teachers’ views on universal basic education and its impact on quality of education. The investigation adopted a qualitative method where interviews were conducted to elicit teachers’ views on the phenomenon. Twenty secondary school teachers were purposively sampled for the study. Findings were that basic education adversely affected the quality of education by the creation of large wide ability classes which most teachers found difficult to teach, overstretching teaching – learning resources and congesting infrastructure creating unconducive learning environments. Recommendations include – better preparation of teachers during pre- and in-service training, effective instructional supervision, positive discrimination when resourcing and funding schools, careful use and management of educational resources, strengthening home-school partnerships and revisiting the curriculum and its assessment, so that it becomes responsive to basic education.