Zimbabwean schools facing decline

Once the pride of Africa, Zimbabwe’s education system has undergone a slow decline, with 25 per cent fewer children in school today than there were 10 years ago.

Robert Mugabe, the president, who was last week re-appointed as head of the Zanu-PF party, made education a priority early in his rule but the schools he built in the 1980s have since declined.

Teachers, who receive only $100-a-month from the government, are demanding better pay and an estimated 20,000 have left the profession in the last decade.

For parents, while school is supposed to be free in Zimbabwe, increasing costs such as enrolment charges, books and uniforms, make it too expensive for many.

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa reports from Harare, where some students are not even sure if their exam papers will be marked.