Churches have contributed tremendously to the development of Zimbabwean’s education sector. Before independence, most rural schools that provided education for black students were developed and run by churches through missionary centres. Those mission schools only received a fraction of the grants given to white schools by the colonial government. In the 1970s, the Rhodesian regime withdrew financial support from mission schools and promoted the handover of rural day schools to local councils, which often lacked a sufficient revenue base and struggled to provide education for black students
