In order to succeed in a globally competitive world, it is imperative to acquire knowledge and an understanding of the places and cultures outside the boarders of one's country. Zimbabwe has one of the highest literacy rates in Sub-Saharan Africa but despite this, large gaps exist in the knowledge about the levels of geographic literacy among Zimbabwean students. A survey, adapted from the National Geographic-Roper Global Geographic Literacy Survey, was administered to 103 students (11%) in the Diploma in Science Education programme at Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE). The survey assessed knowledge of geography and world events as well as information about various factors that may influence the participants' geographic literacy. The data were statistically analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS 17.0. Research findings revealed that the participants had high levels of geographic literacy with a mean score of 82 percent. Some of the factors found to influence the scores were sex, frequency of news media access and type of news accessed. While students majoring in the Agriculture, Biology and Geography Option had higher mean scores than other students, having passed Geography at O' Level and age has insignificant influence on the mean score.

<p>This case study looked at 76 randomly selected preservice science teachers from Mbire and Guruve districts who were learning at the Mushumbi Centre in Zimbabwe and assessed their motivations for enrolling under the Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE)’s Virtual and Open Distance Learning (VODL) programme. It also looked at the challenges they faced, their views on how instruction under the programme can be improved, and their deployment preferences after graduation. The districts are located in the remote Zambezi Valley, which is characterized by poor infrastructure, pests and diseases, frequent attacks by wild animals on people, domestic animals, and crops, harsh climatic conditions, and seasonal floods, which make it very difficult to attract and retain qualified teachers. Through targeted recruitment, BUSE’s VODL programme sought to train relief teachers already serving in the area in the hope that personal history and family connections would entice them to continue teaching in these areas after attaining their teacher certification. Data was collected using a questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions. Results obtained indicate that despite a lack of funding, a shortage of reading materials, and the nonavailability of e-learning facilities, the students were motivated to join the programme for personal and professional motives and that the students, the majority of whom had taught for two or more years in the districts, would prefer deployments in the area after graduation. The study therefore recommends that deliberate efforts be directed toward the targeted recruitment of school leavers and relief teachers from disadvantaged rural areas who possess the requisite minimum entry qualifications to train as science teachers in order to improve teacher retention in remote areas. Further research into the intrinsic problems in BUSE’s VODL programme and a close scrutiny of its course development techniques are also encouraged in order to overcome some of the problems encountered by both the students and the institution.</p>

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School-Based Assessment (SBA) can help achieve a holistic, child-centred and qualitative account of a pupil's performance. The same method has been criticised for being subjective, informal and open to teacher bias hence the reluctance by the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) to embrace it for certification and selection into further education or vocational careers. In 2009, the prohibitive cost of administering national examinations due to economic problems faced by the country and the subsequent delays in releasing the results forced The Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture to enrol pupils from primary into secondary schools using SBA results. This survey, conducted using both qualitative and quantitative methods, was carried out at three purposively sampled secondary schools (162 pupils) and looked at whether there was consistency between the national examinations and the SBA results used to enrol pupils. A questionnaire with both open-ended and closed questions was used to collect data. Seven primary school trained teachers were interviewed to ascertain their knowledge on SBA and all of them had not received any formal training on SBA. Results obtained reveal that SBA can be a trusted benchmark for promotion of pupils from primary into secondary school as those pupils who passed teacher tests at Grade Seven also passed the ZIMSEC national examinations. In order to achieve efficient use of limited financial resources, the study recommends that the promotion of pupils into Form One be done using SBA results and that pre-service and in-service training of teachers on SBA be made a priority.

Unprecedented COVID-19 lockdowns forced schools to close and to adopt online teaching and learning methodologies. In Zimbabwe, underprivileged schools were the worst affected by this directive. This qualitative study, carried out in one cluster of rural secondary schools explored the preparedness of geography teachers to adopt e-learning strategies. Data were collected through interviews and questionnaires. Findings indicate that teachers at day schools were not well prepared to adopt e-learning strategies while their counterparts at boarding schools were better prepared. Teachers stuck to their traditional classroom roles and failed to adopt additional online roles resulting in feelings of boredom due to lack of social interaction with students. A lack of teacher training and support and inadequacies in infrastructural facilities were the major impediments militating against teacher preparedness. WhatsApp emerged as the most popular application used to communicate with students. It is recommended that stakeholder support be mobilized towards teacher capacitation.