ABSTRACT
Summary: The first section of this chapter examines those factors which have affected Black pupils' access to the opportunity structures in the formerly White-dominated society of Rhodesia. Differential access to schooling based on race is examined with the implications it has had for the ‘life chances’ of Black pupils. Factors other than race such as sex, regional and ethnic differences, quality and type of school attended and socioeconomic status are also found to have influenced differentially the opportunity of various groups within Black society. The effect of the War of Liberation in the closure of most of the Black schools in the rural areas is considered as well as the new Education Act of 1979. This Act, while it provided for a gradual integration of former White schools, is found to have created additional problems particularly in the area of social stratification of Blacks.
In the second section the possibilities for the future opportunity for Blacks in an independent Zimbabwe under a Black majority ruled government are considered. The ruling party Zanu (PF) have planned for a non-racial, wide ranging and all-encompassing educational system with vast expansion to compensate for the inequalities of the past. However, it is doubted whether it is possible to eradicate all inequalities in a developing country with limited resources; indeed, even developed countries have not been able to do so. However, Zimbabwe does possess economic and human resources to a greater extent than many Third World countries and, therefore, may be able to demonstrate that it is able to overcome many of the constraints which have frustrated the achievement of educational inequality elsewhere.
