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THE new schools curriculum was introduced after wide consultations with more than one million Zimbabweans and other stakeholders contrary to views that it is a hurried project, a senior Government official has said.Last week, Government rolled out the new curriculum amid criticism from other sectors that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education did not consult interested parties.
The new curriculum has seen the introduction of nine new learning areas in primary education. These include science, technology, engineering, agriculture and vocational technical subjects, among others.
Pupils in Early Childhood Development will undertake languages, visual and performing arts, physical education, mass displays, maths and science, family and heritage and ICT.
Primary and Secondary Education secretary Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango told The Sunday Mail last week that the Nziramasanga Commission of 1999 formed the foundation of the new education curriculum.
“If you look at the document the bulk of the information is contained in the Presidential Commission into Education and Training (popularly known as the Nziramasanga Commission) and what we did was to take that information and make it relevant after consultations with education partners and over a million participants.
“We have to change other things for example ICT, which is now different from the situation then and agriculture which has been revolutionised.
“How can people say a document which has been in place for more than 15 years was hurried?
“We are known for producing brilliant researches but when it comes to implementation we are found wanting. ‘‘Why is it that when we are implementing what we have researched there is an outcry?”
The new curriculum is being implemented in phases after it was successfully piloted last year.
This year, it will be implemented in ECD, Grades 1 and 3 and Forms 1, 3 and 5 while training in syllabus interpretation is being done for ECD B, Grades 2 and 4, Forms 2, 4 and 6 teachers.
The first Grade Seven exam ◆ under the new curriculum — will be written in 2021 when it will be transformed into a new name, Junior School Examination.
The year 2022 will see the full implementation of the new curriculum.
Dr Utete-Masango said the new curriculum will ensure pupils are empowered with life skills that will enable them to eke out a living upon completion of secondary school.
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