Access to formal education for the San community in Tsholotsho, Zimbabwe: challenges and prospects

This article examines the myriad of challenges faced by primary and secondary school going children amongst the San community in their quest to attain formal education in rural Tsholotsho, Zimbabwe. Using a mixed method approach, the study utilised focus group discussions from selected primary and secondary schools, key informant interviews with headmasters and teachers and also survey questionnaires supported by an ethnographic research design. It emerged from the study that long distance travelled to school, abject poverty, dilapidated infrastructure and the perceived negative attitude towards education has had telling effects on the marginalised San community. The hindrances to attaining formal education has tended to solidify the existing stereotypes, prejudices and social labels against the San community by other ethnic groups as “separatists”, “non-conformist” and at worst “primitive” in as far as participating in modern and mainstream development is concerned. The article suggests that there is a need for a paradigm shift in attitude and behaviour of development agents and actors in their policy positions and their interventions to the San community. Formal education for the San community will be hard to achieve as long as institutions perceive them as subaltern citizens, who are a nuisance.