Docility and the education Myth of the Zimbabwean Youth
One of the greatest Revolutionaries was a Medical Doctor by training, his name
was Ernesto Che Guevara and his leader was a lawyer by training, the Cuban
leader Fidel Castro. Che once said, "...there is no right time for a
revolution...", if one wants to wait for an ideal time to initiate a
revolution, then one would have to wait for a life time. This is not an
encouragement to engage in a blind-struggle, but it is plea for common sense,
which dictates that, revolutions are started from a position of practical and
psychological disadvantage. However most revolutions if not all are started and
anchored on a moral high ground. Herein is the secret of all successful
revolutions.
Today in Zimbabwe, the youth faces a plethora of calamitous situations, they
have lost mot basic tenet for a vibrant and forward moving youth, that is, their
dreams. Today, the Zimbabwean youth is the most less aspirational youth of them
all. They saw their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters accepting the status
quo and trying all possible meaningless means of accommodating and adjusting to
the status quo, little did they realise that slowly they were being turned into
zombies worse than robotics mentality inculcated in many by Zanu pf. The
passivity and docility cuts across the Zimbabwean political structure and
organisations, it cuts across the strata of the society, be it class, education
or whatever. In all the spheres of Zimbabwean life hopeless and
passive youth are to be found, they are found in Zanu pf, they are found in
both MDCs and they are in all other organisations such as
churhes. The God given function and purpose of our youth in Zimbawbe
has been lost, and it seems to me that all and sundry are prayerfully awaiting
for a miracle from above, a miracle which they do not realise that they were
born with. It appears to me that the Zimbabwean youth are waiting for someone
from somewhere to come and tell them what to do. Maybe they are waiting for
Mugabe to tell them to rise against him, maybe they are waiting for Welshman
Ncube to give them orders to act and maybe worse they are waiting for Tswangirayi
to tell them what to do.
The myth of civilisation and education.
Zimbabweans are boringly boastful for being the most educated in Africa, they
attach high value to being merely educated, however, it seems they are all
afraid of critically reflecting on the quality of their education. Quality
education should be the one which leaves an individual with the ability to see
the horizon, yet still painfully aware of the circumstances in his or her
proximity. Quality education has to do with one's superior development in
character and awareness in what makes the individual a better person, on the
other hand Zimbabwean education seems to have produced technically able people,
who can easily fit in any work environment, this is where lies the folly of
Zimbabwean education, due to this technical competence, Zimbabweans prefer to
die in exile rather than starting meaningful revolutions at home. The
Zimbabwean education seems to have successfully produced unthinking and people
in perpetuity of fear, in short it has successfully produced cowards, who hide
behind the banner of education and civilisation. Zimbabwean youth perceives
him/herself as the most civilised of speechies in the African continent, but the simple question
which these Zimbabwean youths have to tackle are; is it worth it to claim
education while one wallow in a dejected environment, is it worthy it to claim
any civilisation, while one lives in a hopeless society? Is it viable to
continue with a dsyfunctional society which reverses the gains and developments
of yesteryear? Is it worth it to continue towing the line and being afraid to
rock the boat? In any society, where the youth lack vision and foresight, its
nation perishes. In any society where the youth are afraid to engage in serious
political discourses to an extent of reaching a consensus of restructuring
their political systems, then their nation is bound to fail them. A youth which
is less active than their elders is a worthless and useless youth, only in
Zimbabwe such youth could be found. One can not claim civilisation while
negating the core principles of civilisation, that is the
uncompromising hate for oppression, and the unchallengeable love for one's
freedom. I am aware that the biggest factor in the Zimbabwean youth behaviour,
thoughts and feelings is fear. The question is, is this fear founded? The
honest answer, is yes. However, the youth should stop claiming civilisation
and education, they should come clean and boldly state that they are afraid. A
generation, which fails to confront its sets of problems is a useless
generation, which will burden the next generation. Fear is an
understandable phenomenon, however the Zimbabwean youth have to rise
against fear, they have to confront fear and face it squarely.
