The Government of Zimbabwe has issued a formal rebuttal to recent claims of a “learning crisis” in the country, presenting nine years of empirical data that reflect consistent progress in foundational education. Citing longitudinal findings from the Zimbabwe Early Learning Assessment (ZELA), national officials argue that the country’s primary education system has demonstrated resilience and measurable improvement, with significant proportions of learners achieving grade-level proficiency in key foundational skills.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s response follows the publication of the Spotlight Report on Foundational Learning in Africa (October 2025), which controversially asserted that only 16.7% of Zimbabwean children complete primary school equipped with basic literacy and numeracy. Zimbabwean officials strongly contest this claim, pointing to sustained data which, they argue, provide a more comprehensive and grounded view of the national educational landscape.
At the centre of Zimbabwe’s defence is the ZELA dataset, an annual national diagnostic tool that monitors early-grade learning outcomes across the country. According to the 2024 ZELA report, 72.45% of Grade 2 learners demonstrated proficiency in mathematics, while 74.94% met or exceeded grade-level standards in English. These outcomes, measured against a nine-year timeline (2015–2024), show upward trends that challenge portrayals of systemic educational failure.
Speaking to The Southern African Times, Mr Taungana Ndoro, Director of Communications and Advocacy in the Ministry, described the one-in-six claim as “statistically indefensible,” asserting that it fails to account for internal datasets and national assessments that reflect a more positive trajectory. He further noted that the data contradict claims that Zimbabwe lacks a national assessment framework, highlighting that ZELA has been a key policy tool for nearly a decade.
Official figures on terminal examination performance also point to progress. Between 2021 and 2024, the Grade 7 national pass rate rose from 41.77% to 49%, with the 2024 cohort nearly reaching parity—an estimated one in two children successfully completing primary school with examination-confirmed proficiency. This upward trend, while not indicative of a fully optimised system, reflects a broader commitment to addressing disparities and improving instructional quality.
The Ministry attributes part of this progress to policy interventions launched under Zimbabwe’s Second Republic. These include the expansion of the national school feeding programme—now reaching over two-thirds of primary school pupils—which has demonstrably improved school attendance and pupil concentration. Gender equity initiatives have also yielded gains, with female learners consistently outperforming male peers in both literacy and numeracy assessments, particularly in early grades.
Zimbabwe’s educational resilience following the COVID-19 pandemic disruption is another notable factor. While the pandemic caused temporary setbacks in learner outcomes globally, ZELA data reveal a strong rebound in performance from 2021 onward. This recovery has been facilitated by targeted remedial strategies and reinvestments in infrastructure and teacher development.
Officials also stress that the system’s development has not occurred in isolation. In line with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16–25), Zimbabwe’s educational reforms are designed to align with regional priorities—emphasising equity, localised monitoring, and foundational learning outcomes. As such, the Ministry encourages collaborative dialogue between international stakeholders and national governments, cautioning against external assessments that risk oversimplifying educational realities through homogenised metrics.
Mr Ndoro acknowledged that Zimbabwe’s education system still contends with structural challenges, including disparities in resource allocation, dropout rates in remote areas, and the need for expanded psychosocial support within schools. Nonetheless, the Ministry has outlined a roadmap for continued reform, including the digitisation of administrative systems, the use of disaggregated performance data for targeted interventions, and the extension of ZELA to higher primary grades.
The Government’s position reflects a broader Pan-African concern: the framing of African educational systems through deficit-based narratives. While constructive critique and international benchmarking remain important, officials urge that such evaluations be grounded in contextual evidence and developed in partnership with national institutions.
In a region where education is both a right and a developmental cornerstone, Zimbabwe’s case illustrates the importance of grounding policy discourse in locally generated data. By foregrounding resilience and incremental gains, Zimbabwe’s education authorities are contributing to a broader continental discourse—one that resists linear depictions of crisis and instead embraces complexity, nuance, and the long-term task of educational transformation.
For access to the Zimbabwe Early Learning Assessment data and official Ministry reports, visit the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education portal.
The Spotlight Report on Foundational Learning in Africa is accessible through UNICEF and UNESCO’s Africa Learning Initiative.
