After listening intently and taking notes, delegates to a recent high-level education sector review meeting applauded loudly as 18-year-old Dylan Magoli stepped down from the podium after delivering a presentation that included proposals on how to improve access to education for rural learners in Zimbabwe.

He was among the delegates ranging from school principals to senior government officials, consultants, civil society and United Nations agencies who had gathered for the 2023 education joint sector review (JSR) meeting. The annual evaluation and planning gathering is coordinated by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) and supported by GPE.

Magoli, who had travelled about 100 kilometers from his rural Gweshe High School in Mashonaland Central province to participate in the meeting in the capital, Harare, said the esteemed company motivated rather than intimidated him.

“I was overjoyed,” he said. “As a learner, I was elated that we presented our ideas to such highly respected people and that they considered our contributions,” added Magoli, who is studying mathematics, economics and business at an advanced level.

He was one of several learners who participated at the JSR and took center stage during presentations, group sessions and plenary discussions. The JSR brings together stakeholders from the entire chain of the education system – from those working in remote stations to top officials at the head office and partners – under one roof to take stock of progress on the implementation of the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP 2021–2025) and chart the way forward.

Though held at the national level, the impact of JSR meetings cascades into tangible capacity building across all corners of the country, said Gabriel Mhumha, the Provincial Education Director for Mashonaland West province. “We share a lot of insights, and we exchange best practices, and in doing so, I am able to pick up solutions to the problems that I may be facing in my province,” said Mhumha, whose province is mainly rural.

“I have always found the JSR to be critical in developing our capacity in Mashonaland West to track the province's progress on the important indicators of access and quality, which are our key result areas. It allows us to get feedback on progress made province by province, thus bringing out challenges at provincial, district and school levels. This way, we are able to build interventions together; we address challenges from a collective point of view rather than doing it in silos,” he said.

Mhumha pointed to the ministry’s strategy to decentralize recruitment of teachers to the provincial level in areas where access to and quality of education are under threat from staff attrition. “It came out of discussions that we had at JSR meetings. It is quite useful and will assist us in a big way as a province in stabilizing staffing. Access and quality cannot be achieved without enough staff,” said Mhumha, whose province has several remote and vulnerable districts such as Kariba and Hurungwe.

The 2022 JSR was conducted from 25 to 27 July 2023 and is the second under the recently adopted 2021–2025 ESSP. Delegates reflected on the achievements and attainment of key indicators such as access to education, enrollment and retention of learners, quality of services, teacher availability, access to teaching and learning materials, effective implementation of laws and policies, and resultant learning outcomes such as pass rates.

Delegates adopted 29 actions to drive the implementation of recommendations in five focus areas for 2023, namely financing, inclusive learning (alternative teaching and learning methodologies), infrastructure, curriculum assessment, review and reform and system strengthening.

Sister Praxedis Nyathi, head of the Roman Catholic-run AMR Primary School in Lupane district in western Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North province, about 600 kilometers from Harare, said she and her school are testimonies of the immediate and long-term impacts of the JSR.

“I learned many things from what other people shared there; for example, it helped me learn how to better deal with gifted children and those with learning difficulties. The issue of shortage of teachers at our school was solved as we received two teachers,” she said, adding that the intervention would go a long way in helping the school improve its pass rate, which currently averages 90%.

Sister Nyathi, who was among those who gave presentations at the meeting, said the JSR is an excellent opportunity to network with various stakeholders such as development partners.

Because of the JSR’s alignment with the government’s development goals, the ministry has incorporated the process into its annual planning, monitoring and budgeting calendar, said Evelyn Ndlovu, the education minister at the time of the JSR. “This mainstreaming of the planning tool (JSR) will ensure its sustainability, even beyond the GPE,” she said, encouraging delegates to be open to fresh ideas in remarks read on her behalf by the permanent secretary at the opening of the JSR.

Magoli, the student from Gweshe High School, agreed. He said the inclusive and participatory nature of the JSR gives learners a more powerful voice. He used the analogy of a doctor-patient relationship to underline his point. “For a doctor to fully diagnose and give proper medication, there is a need to involve the patients themselves by asking them how they feel and areas of pain,” said Magoli, who dreams of owning a company that provides technological solutions to challenges faced by the education sector in Africa.

“The same applies in the education sector. To improve the education system, there is a need to involve the primary stakeholders; it is of paramount importance that learners are involved in all matters of education,” he said.