Bulawayo’s municipal schools are celebrating a significant rebound in academic performance, with new data showing 27 out of 30 council-run primary schools achieved a pass rate exceeding 50% in the 2025 Grade 7 examinations.
However, a recent fact-finding mission by the city council’s health, housing, and education committee has exposed a widening divide between elite urban centres and struggling peri-urban institutions.
While schools like J.W. Mthimkhulu in Magwegwe continue to dominate merit awards through robust community funding and "state-of-the-art" infrastructure projects, others are fighting a "perfect storm" of financial and social challenges.
At St. Peters Primary and Sizalendaba Secondary—the city’s only municipal high school—officials reported that progress is being strangled by unpaid fees and the government’s failure to settle BEAM obligations dating back to 2022.
The crisis is particularly acute in peri-urban areas where vandalism and theft have targeted staff accommodation.
At J.W. Mthimkhulu, thieves have stripped away perimeter fencing, forcing parents to self-fund a new wall to protect assets.
Meanwhile, at Aisleby Primary, a farm school serving disadvantaged communities in Umguza, the challenges are even more fundamental: many learners lack basic identity documents such as birth certificates.
"High staff turnover is a major driver of poor pass rates," officials noted, highlighting that the lack of habitable housing in remote areas makes it difficult to retain qualified educators.
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Despite these hurdles, a glimmer of hope has emerged through private-public partnerships.
The Thembalezizwe Zimbabwe Trust (TLZ) is currently spearheading a massive rehabilitation project at Aisleby, constructing five new staff houses and renovating eight others.
The project, slated for completion by April, aims to stabilise the teaching workforce and provide much-needed Heritage-Based Curriculum materials.
The committee also praised the "underdog" schools for their sporting prowess.
Sizalendaba Secondary has remarkably maintained its status as a provincial handball champion for two consecutive years, despite lacking standard sports fields and science laboratories.
While the city council has applauded the "passion for service delivery" shown by educators, the report makes it clear that without addressing the funding gap and infrastructure deficit, the academic gains of 2025 remain fragile.
