HARARE, 16 September 2009: Donors have given Zimbabwe’s ailing education system a US$70 million boost in an attempt to reverse the rapid decline of a sector once regarded as the finest in sub-Saharan Africa.
The UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF), in partnership with the Zimbabwe unity government, will be distributing funds from donor countries that include Australia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission on behalf of the European Union.
Widespread food shortages, cholera outbreaks, an almost year-long strike by teachers in 2008, the country’s economic meltdown and political violence have all contributed to the near total disruption of education.
The attempt to resuscitate the education system will take a two-pronged approach: the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), and the Educational Transition Fund (ETF), which will provide technical capacity to the ministry of education to disseminate text books.
