15. Has (the respondent) ever been to school?
16. What is the highest level and grade of education completed by (the respondent)?
Q16 Highest level and grade of education completed
This question is asked on persons age 3 years and above as coded in question 4 and have attended school (code '1' or yes) in question 15.
The outcome of attendance does not matter, i.e. whether someone passed or failed, the education level is immaterial and is not necessarily an outcome of formal schooling.
The education system has undergone periodic changes. At one time primary education lasted eight years then changed to seven years. There was once the F2 system, which went up to grade 11 (eleven) in secondary school. All these systems must be made to conform to the system currently in use. Furthermore, if a respondent was educated outside Zimbabwe, probe so as to find the Zimbabwe level of education that is equivalent to the respondent's level of education.
[pg. 30]
Equivalence between the old and new systems of education in Zimbabwe and the applicable codes are shown in the table below:
If the person has attended school, you will record his/her educational attainment in column 16. Do this by using the codes given below. You will first record the level of schooling by recording the highest level the person ever attended, even if he/she did not finish that level. Then you will record how many grades the person completed at that level. For example, a man who completed all the grades of primary school would be Level 1, Grade 7. A child who is currently in the third year of primary school would be Level 1 and Grade 2 (she has not yet completed the third year). A man who left during his first year of secondary school would be recorded as Level 1 and Grade 7. If a respondent has been to secondary school i.e. level 2, but the grade (number of years) is not known use grade 4.
Codes for questions 16 and 19