PART I

Zimbabwe’s Colonial School Names: Why the Past Still Governs Our Classrooms

By Princess Eugene Majuru

More than four decades after Independence, Zimbabwe has largely stopped questioning the names of its public schools. They are treated as tradition — neutral, inherited, untouchable.

But they are not neutral.

Across the country, dozens of schools still bear the names of colonial administrators, British aristocrats, imperial leaders, settler families, and foreign political figures. These names were imposed during colonial rule to legitimise foreign authority and normalise imperial dominance.

What is surprising is not that they exist — history explains that.
What is surprising is that they remain largely unquestioned in 2025.

A Pattern, Not an Accident

Schools such as Prince Edward, Churchill, Godfrey Huggins, Lord Malvern, Selborne, Cranborne, Marlborough, Roosevelt, Moffat, Nettleton, Diggleford, Routledge, Frank H. Johnson, George Stark, Oriel, Mabelreign, Mount Hampden, and others were deliberately named to honour colonial power.

These were not random choices.
They reflected a system designed to teach African children who ruled and whose history mattered.

Independence dismantled the political structure of colonialism — but its symbolic architecture was left standing.

Why School Names Matter

A school name is not a signboard.
It is a daily lesson in authority and belonging.

Every learner who attends a school named after a colonial figure absorbs an unspoken message:

• That prestige comes from Europe

• That leadership is foreign

• That local heroes are secondary

This message directly contradicts an education system that teaches:

• Chimurenga history

• Patriotism

• National sovereignty

The contradiction is not theoretical — it is lived daily.

Constitutional Silence, Cultural Consequences

Zimbabwe’s Constitution (Section 16) obliges the State to promote indigenous culture, history, and dignity. Yet colonial school names persist without systematic review.

This silence has consequences.

As cultural scholars have long argued, colonialism survives longest in symbols, not armies. What remains unchallenged eventually becomes normal.

The Question Zimbabwe Has Avoided

The real question is not whether these names are historically accurate.
They are.

The question is simpler — and harder:

Why does independent Zimbabwe still honour colonial authority in public education?

Part II will examine who benefits from this silence, why resistance to renaming persists, and what a realistic, Zimbabwe-led solution would look