DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2015.v03i04.005

Pages: 843-852

Decentralization has been suggested as one of the solutions to the problems affecting developing countries. It was expected to bring with it benefits such as accountability, efficiency, empowerment and reducing bottlenecks. These benefits were expected to spread to sectors such as education. The paper discusses different forms of decentralization within the context of education. The different forms discussed include deconcentration, devolution, delegation and de facto decentralization. The paper discusses decentralization of education within the Zimbabwean context. The paper observes that local authorities in Zimbabwe demonstrated lack of capacity to manage education. On the other hand, the use of School Development Committees in schools has created a burden on parents in their efforts to provide for the schools. The paper argues that attempts to decentralize have not had the desired results. As such, decentralization of education cannot be the panacea to the challenges in education in most developing countries. In some instances, decentralization has resulted in the transfer of national problems to local levels. In that regard, the major issues in education are not premised on whether to centralize or to decentralize our education system, but on having a holistic approach that includes the creation of stable economies, improved political and social conditions.