ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights how the Zimbabwean education system, despite being threatened by the crisis, was manipulated by the ruling party for the furtherance of its political interests in the name of instilling values of patriotism. Education systems can possibly act as an influential force for peace, resolution, and prevention of conflicts by encouraging shared respect, acceptance, and acute thinking. Peace education addresses various issues and the type of violence at hand determines the goal of peace education to be attained. Using education for legitimacy purposes through conscious manipulation, as Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front under Mugabe has done. Stakeholders in Zimbabwe must be mindful of the fact that for education to play a meaningful role in peacebuilding and economic development, it needs to be seriously modified at all levels. The challenges in Zimbabwe entail that education has to provide manpower with the technical skills and entrepreneurial knowledge required to address the twenty-first century challenges, including unemployment.
