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Zimbanwe is one of the former British colonies in southern Africa. It was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia. Like many of these countries, school uniform and dress trends show yhis British heritage. Elementary school children in Zimbabwe commonly wear uniforms. At one representative school in the 1990s the girls wore blue dresses with large Peter Pan collars and the boys wore khaki open collar shirts and short pants. We believe that this is also the case in secondary schools. We still have very limited information on the country. Zimbabwe's spiral into disorder and poverty in recent years has undoubtedly affected the ability of parents to afford school uniforms. As in South Africa khaki was a populsr color for school wear. The boys here, for example, look to be wearing khaki shirts and shorts, but it is difficult to be certain.
Zimbanwe is one of the former British colonies in southern Africa. It was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia. The first schools were European mission schools. It was a relatively prosperous colony, but we have little information on schools during the colonial era. A white-diominated government declared independence leading to a black guerrila insurection. Eventualy a black majority government under Rober Mugabe gained power, but mismanagement and corruption has wrecked the economy. Zimbabwe is one of many African countries that are poorer than during the colonial era. The result has been a poorly funded educational system, even by African standards. A British reader writes, "A sad country. It was once the bread basket of Africa. There is still lots of money in the country - provided you are from the right tribe. It has a proud, noble past and Great Zimbabwe is a testament to that. I was there in 1995. It is very English in character and I felt at home. I could have lived there them. I traveled on the railway. The amazing thing was the carriage windows still had glass bearing Rhodesia Railways! There is a steam railway presevation society in Bulawayo. Its by the railway station. An observer noting the children involved in an agriculture project here writes, "When is the rest of the world going to wake up to the disaster that is Zimbabwe? Rhodesia used to be the breadbasket of Africa but Mugabe, who practices a kind of reverse apartheid, is allowed to get away with the starving of his own people and the murder of anyone who stands in his way. He is a monster that the South African government would do well to ostracise."
Like many former British colonies, school uniform and dress trends show the British heritage. Elementary school children in Zimbabwe commonly wear uniforms. At one representative school in the 1990s the girls wore blue dresses with large Peter Pan collars and the boys wore khaki open collar shirts and short pants. We believe that this is also the case in secondary schools. We still have very limited information on the country. Zimbabwe's spiral into disorder and poverty in recent years has undoubtedly affected the ability of parents to afford school uniforms. As in South Africa khaki was a populsr color for school wear. The boys here, for example, look to be wearing khaki shirts and shorts, but it is difficult to be certain.
A reader writes, "Going to school and returning home was interesting. I recall that the children all wore school uniforms. They assembled in Market square. (I think I am recalling memories from 1996) The school buses were lorries and the children climbed onboard and rode to school. I thought it was cub scoutish - in 1950's England cub scouts went to camp in lorries or other means strange transports rather than on a bus or coach. The children seemed to enjoy this aspect of school travel. Lessons were formal and children were orderly when they moved from class to class.
I was only there three days. I have several photographs I took. The country was full of hope that there would be a good future for their children. My friends were not white Zimbabweans and their children attended a lovely school. They dressed in school uniform and on returning home changed into play clothes. The children were musically talented and had an enthusiastic approach to life with everything to look forward to. It is sad that things have turned out differently than they hoped."
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Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
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