Evaluation of the Nziramasanga Report of Inquiry into Education in Zimbabwe, 1999: The Case of Gender Equity in Education

The paper evaluated recommendations of the Nziramasanga Report as these recommendations relate to gender equity in education in Zimbabwe from 2000 to 2010. A desk review design, in which several documents were perused, was adopted for the study. A gender mainstreaming and empowerment framework built on three critical pillars, that is, parity, equity and equality was utilised. The successes of the report’s recommendations were based on the achievements of government and other gender equity stakeholders in formulating policies and strategies intended to bring about gender equity in the education sector. In this evaluation process, the paper revealed that a number of successes have been realised. These include the National Gender Policy and its Implementation Strategy. An amendment to the Education Act in 2004 was made with a view to addressing and promoting gender equity in Education. Gender parity in primary schools has been achieved whilst in secondary schools it is about to be achieved. However, at tertiary level, gender disparities in enrolment are still a challenge. ‘Feminisation’ of teacher education is now a reality as opportunities have been availed to female as well as male students to train as teachers. Engendering the curriculum is a process that has started. However teachers in the school system are not yet using gender responsive pedagogy, neither are textbooks used in schools all gender sensitive. Policies such as those allowing maternity and paternity leave for girls who fall pregnant and boys, who are responsible for impregnating these girls respectively, though meeting with a lot of resistance, are also an example of an implementation success. However, the school and the community still require gender sensitisation to handle issues of girl pregnancies in a more humane way. Other challenges include religion and culture as inhibitive factors for the girl child and Affirmative Action Policies not being strictly followed up. By and large successes have been scored and challenges have been encountered in the implementation of gender equity recommendations. However, a lot more could be done by both government and other gender equity stakeholders to ensure that there is equal access of both males and females to educational facilities, resources and provisions that the country offers.