‘Born Free’ is a tag associated with people born in 1980 and soon afterwards following the protracted liberation struggle of the 1970s. But the irony is that while the tag is associated with a good life, of people who did endure suffering to enjoy the new Zimbabwe, the majority of the so-called born-frees are struggling, 34 years after independence. Most of them have never been employed and are living a life of want and disappointment. Most of them armed with degrees and post graduate diplomas think they have conquered the world, but they have not seen anything. They are failing to fly high as expected, thanks to a crumbling economy, blamed on the Zanu PF government. While appreciative of the selfless efforts of the fallen and living war veterans who fought for the country’s political independence, some say that the peers, who got assistance from the government which paid for their university education, are suffering. Some say they have not been able to secure their dream jobs or even ordinary lowly paying ones to survive as companies continue to close. Most of the youths are drowning their sorrows in beer or end up joining political parties.
For
the past 33 years, they have not known any other leader except President Robert
Mugabe. The cash-strapped government is no longer able to support students in
colleges and universities. Generally, education is now out of the reach of
ordinary people who now have to rely on their own pockets to give their
children higher education. According to
government, in the first decade of Zimbabwe's independence, enrolment of
students from primary to tertiary level increased from one million to three
million, a direct result of the new black government’s prioritisation of
education. The construction of state universities, polytechnic and vocational
colleges, coupled with government's direct support of students, saw Zimbabwe
attaining one of the highest literacy levels in sub-Saharan Africa. But as the
economy experienced a downturn from the mid-nineties, reaching rock-bottom in
2007, the gains of the early years of independence were reversed, with
thousands of graduates failing to find employment and many of them deciding to
seek better opportunities outside the country.
Zimbabwe
is failing to pay tuition fees for students at colleges and universities due to
serious financial challenges. Instead of continuing to build more universities
that churn out graduates year-in year-out, the government should seriously
consider revising the country's education curriculum in order to impart
knowledge and skills that enable graduates to create rather than look for
employment individually and collectively. A nation's youth often plays an
important role in changing its fortunes for the better, but it remains to be
seen what role the born-frees can play in bettering their own lives and that of
the nation at large. As the situation remains largely the same to this day,
some observers have said the pre-independence period offered better
opportunities to youths than the present day. Norbert Nhutsve is a historian
who works with a state-run organisation, speaking in his individual capacity,
Nhutsve tells Studio 7 that although they may have been more and varied, the
opportunities offered by the minority white government were limited to a few
blacks.
The youths say they have nothing to celebrate
as they face a bleak future because of unemployment and poverty; problems which
they believe have left them at the mercy of politicians.
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