Abstract This article reports on the findings of a qualitative study on the causes of school decline at two schools located in Chipinge Education District, Zimbabwe. Specifically, the study focussed on schools that were previously known for excellent academic learner performance but had since declined. The data was generated through semi-structured interviews and observations with school heads, the school management team members and parents at each school. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The results suggested that school decline was triggered by several intricate factors which included the: socio-economic and political conditions in Zimbabwe; ineffective instructional leadership; scarcity of funding and resources towards education; lack of incentives for teachers; departure of qualified and experienced teachers to neighbouring countries; low teacher morale; and the poor attitude of students to learning and misconceptions of children’s rights. While these factors contributed to school decline, the article posits that effective and visionary school leadership should be able to mitigate against some of these factors to mitigate the severe impact of external factors on school decline.

中文翻译：

---

记录学校衰落的原因：两个津巴布韦学校

摘要本文对位于津巴布韦奇平格教育区的两所学校的学业下降原因进行了定性研究。具体来说，该研究的重点是以前以出色的学习者表现而闻名的学校，但此后一直下降。数据是通过与学校负责人，学校管理团队成员和每所学校的家长进行半结构化访谈和观察得出的。内容分析用于分析数据。结果表明，学校的下降是由几个复杂的因素引起的，这些因素包括：津巴布韦的社会经济和政治状况；无效的教学领导；用于教育的资金和资源短缺；缺乏对教师的激励；合格且经验丰富的教师离开邻国；教师士气低落；以及学生对学习和对儿童权利的误解的不良态度。尽管这些因素助长了学校的衰落，但文章认为，有效而有远见的学校领导应该能够缓解其中的一些因素，以减轻外部因素对学校衰落的严重影响。