Abstract:
The study sought to determine the magnitude reading achievement lag (if any) caused by world
economic crisis and in particular in Zimbabwe when the country experienced its worst economic crisis between
2006 and 2008. During this period most teachers left the profession due to what were perceived to be
meaningless salaries. Regressed and subdued teaching was experienced during this period. A random sample
size of 10727 pupils (5291 boys and 5436 girls) from four districts in Manicaland Province participated in the
study. Three hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.01 level of significance. The results show a significant
relationship (0.99) between the grade of the pupil (years in school) and performance lag. The achievement gap
widens with an increase in the number of years in school. Urban schools are better off than peri-urban and rural.
Rural schools achieved the least. On average 96.3% grade 4 pupils, 94.6% grade 5 pupils and 93.3% grade 6
pupils were achieving below their grade levels. The difference between expected achievement and actual
achievement was significant at each grade level.
