The inconvenient truth about the private school project in Zimbabwe

The private school project (PSP) in Zimbabwe has failed many black children.

Without a doubt, beneficiaries come out of it with fantastic tones that sound ( when you are behind the door) like the Queen speaking and very little else. 

In today's Zim, heads of Ministries/govt, heads of parastatals, captains of industry and commerce and the technocrats in government are people who attended missionary schools. Even in the diaspora, the critical mass of those succeeding to phenomenal heights attended the Tegwani, Gokomere, Kutamas, Waddilove, Monte Casino etc. missionary schools of this world.

You see, the PSP is unconsciously hostile to the black child. It alienates them from self whilst giving them cold comfort that, this is the real deal : the only deal that will deliver sustainable milk and honey in the future. The PSP plants confusion in the hearts and minds of black children, leaves them unsure of their blackness, what it stands for, whether or not it should be embraced and celebrated in addition to failing to prepare them for an "African eventuality" which we have become. 

The African eventuality is where, the "boorangoma" rules! The boorangoma tends to be a rule new rules creator and old rules breaker. They create their own rules that are anti-establishment or anti-all-the-assumptions of life that the black beneficiaries of the PSP hold dear. 

The boorangoma comes in all shapes and sizes. They can wear suits and ties and also t-shirts, tattoos and earrings (by the way, there is nothing wrong with that). The essence is, the boorangoma is foreign to civility and gentleness, is prone to cut corners, defy all rules and does what they can, if allowed to, for the benefit of self. 

They are often uncouth, very unpolished and give you labels when you speak like the Queen. They boo you down and condemn you when you cannot speak vernacular. (But also, why be black and not speak your mother tongue?) 

If you find yourself in that situation, and hopefully you were brought up to be an all rounder, not a coconut only, you need to quickly make a survival assessment and be able to boldly and unashamefly tell them, "pfutseki bhuradhi furu", "ibva apa mhani" so that they know, as the child of the soil, you can operate at any level and you will not be taken advantage of.

Many, who were privileged to attend the PSP shy away from interacting with boorangoma who is now prevalent in the country and across the continent.

What this means is, many beneficiaries of the PSP will either remain unplugged in their country of birth, a country they grew up in and will not be able to carve out viable spaces for themselves to transact. They become completely alienated. The PSP also stunts their ability to be hungry enough. When you are not hungry enough to succeed beyond the level of your privilege, you just do not.

If you have failed to move a notch or more higher than what your parents achieved, you are not a success. In fact, you have taken the family down. This means the next generation will have to work harder to achieve your notch and theirs too. Otherwise, future generations can easily slide backwards to oblivion. The PSP project fails to prepare black children for this urgency.

Unfortunately, both the PSP beneficiary and boorangoma parents, aspire to send their black children to the PSP. We hear of black parents telling black nursery school owners that "we will only support you if you have white teachers." Even those parents, who went to predominantly black missionary schools, who are decision makers in Zim today, queue up to get their children into the PSP. Ideally, they should be mobilising the alumni of the missionary schools that built them up to be who they are today, to go back there and plough resources.

I attended both the missionary and PSP schools. I also queued up to send all my four children to attend the PSP. I once pulled out my son from St John's Prep School to Chishawasha. In just one term, the transformation was phenomenal. But I was overruled at family indabas. He went back to the PSP. 

Let us rethink the models that we follow. All the glitters is not gold.