UNICEF: Reinvigorating Zimbabwe's schools with new books

NEW YORK, USA, 14 September 2009 UNICEF and its partners are launching a massive campaign in Zimbabwe to get textbooks into school classrooms

In one of the largest social initiatives of the past five years, the Educational Transition Fund announced today that it is spending $70 million on the initiative. Its goal is to ensure that all of Zimbabwes children receive a quality education.

Zimbabwes education system once one of the best in sub-Saharan Africa has declined to the point where one in five primary schools has no English, mathematics or African-language textbooks. As a result, pass rates have fallen significantly and more than 50 per cent of primary school pupils do not go on to secondary school.

According to UNICEF Representative in Zimbabwe Dr. Peter Salama, the initiative launched today will increase the ratio of learning materials currently estimated at 1 textbook for every 10 students to one book for every two pupils within the next year.

To read the full story, visit http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/zimbabwe_51126.html

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