Deportations put thousands of Zimbabwean pupils’ education at risk, group warns

The Zimbabwe exemption permit coordinating committee has appealed to the South African and Zimbabwean governments to intervene after families being deported or forced to leave South Africa put the education of thousands of Zimbabwean children at risk, the committee said.

Immediate threat to matric pupils

Edward Muchatuta, the organisation’s national coordinator, said the most urgent concern involves pupils in Grade 12 preparing for South Africa’s National Senior Certificate examinations in November. He warned that many matric pupils who have spent their entire schooling in South Africa face withdrawal from school because their parents or guardians are being deported or are leaving the country.

“How will they prepare and sit for these critical examinations if they are forced to relocate now. Imagine after 11 years you have been doing Caps and in your final year of school forced to do the Zimbabwean [syllabus],” said Muchatuta.

Curriculum mismatch could delay completion

Muchatuta warned that pupils in Grades 10 and 11 who have followed South Africa’s CAPS curriculum for more than a decade would struggle to adapt to Zimbabwe’s education system, potentially delaying completion of their schooling by several years, the committee said.

The organisation said assessment in Zimbabwean secondary schools differs from South Africa’s CAPS. It said returning pupils face language barriers because they do not understand Ndebele or Shona, and noted that in Zimbabwe there is no maths literacy or life orientation.

Primary pupils and missed exam registration

Primary school pupils are also at risk, the committee said. It reported that registration for Grade 7 national examinations in Zimbabwe closed earlier this year, leaving many returning children unable to progress to secondary school next year.

The committee said most affected families are from low-income households, particularly domestic workers, who are expected to return to Zimbabwe without employment.

Proposed emergency measures

To avert what it calls an education crisis, the organisation proposed that education authorities in both countries establish emergency arrangements allowing affected pupils to continue following the South African CAPS curriculum while in Zimbabwe. It also called for joint examination centres to be established in Beitbridge and at the Musina Repatriation Centre, enabling Zimbabwean matric pupils to complete their South African final examinations despite relocating.

The committee said qualified teachers among returning Zimbabweans were willing to volunteer to provide academic support if both governments created the necessary framework.

Muchatuta said there had been “more than 2 000” submissions from parents who wanted their children to continue with the CAPS curriculum.

“Some are not opting for repatriation due to education issues. If there is political will to facilitate Caps as an alternative for those returning, more migrants will send their children back to Zimbabwe,” he said.

Government response and returnee numbers

Zimbabwean Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Zhemu Soda said President Emmerson Mnangagwa has instructed all schools to accommodate pupils from South Africa within their catchment areas, the source reported.

The committee said, since last month, over 60 000 Zimbabweans have returned home following anti-illegal immigration protests in South Africa. The department of basic education had not responded to questions by the time of publishing.