THE ROLE OF SCHOOL HEADS IN EQUALISING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN DISADVANTAGED RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ZIMBABWE

THE ROLE OF SCHOOL HEADS IN EQUALISING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN DISADVANTAGED RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ZIMBABWE

KARREN MAKUWE

Primary schools that exist in disadvantaged rural areas in Zimbabwe face serious challenges in delivering equal educational opportunities to the learners. Learners in these areas generally do not perform well in public examinations at grade seven level. They show reduced tendencies to progress beyond compulsory education cycles and contribute more to wastage indicators such as dropping out of school. Using Rawls’ Distributive Theory of social justice (1971), this study explores how school heads deliver equal educational opportunities in selected disadvantaged rural primary schools in Bindura District of Zimbabwe. The study used a qualitative research approach conducting a case study to gather data through semi structured interviews. The participants were primary school heads, deputy heads and school chairpersons selected from five purposively sampled disadvantaged rural primary schools according to their performance status, that is, bottom performing schools in national examinations at Grade Seven level for the year 2024 (based on the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) rankings for Bindura District. For purposes of this study, a bottom performing school in the context of Zimbabwean schools is a pass rate below 25–30 for grade seven (7) examinations

International Journal of Education

2026