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In recent weeks, there has been growing debate on the direction that the education sector is taking. As part of our efforts to contribute to structuring of this issue of national importance, we have asked Dr Caiphas Nziramasanga to contribute a series of articles on education.
Dr Nziramasanga led the 1998/99 Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training. This is the second instalment in his series, and focuses on education structure reform and the curriculum.
In the first instalment on the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training, we examined the broad issues in the Commission Report.
The article examined such issues as the new philosophy of education for Zimbabwe, organisation and management of education, decentralisation of education and training, financing education, and gender equity in education.
The article gave a skeleton of the recommendations on each of these broad issues, but for purposes of my follow up I will examine the most crucial section of the Report as underlined by the terms of reference.
The Presidential Proclamation charged the Commission to inquire into and report upon:
The inherited education system as to relevance, quality, and orientation in the rapidly changing socio-economic environment;
The basic principles and philosophy of Zimbabwe’s educational and training needs and aspirations on the eve of the 21st century, and having regard to the challenges of a competitive global environment in the Information age; and
The fundamental changes to the current curricula at all levels.
Responding to the terms of reference cited above, the commission examined closely the then current structure of education system and its curricula and discovered that the structure was merely a duplicate of the past British system designed to produce academic elites and servant level workers, despite the fact that a lot of work had been done in revamping the curriculum by introducing Education with Production.
The structure, labelled Grades 1 to 7 and Forms 1 to 6, divided into two sections, were out of touch with the reality of the needs of a revolutionised country.
Grade 7 examinations were irrelevant; Form 2 examinations served no purpose as the curriculum rendered no skills for school leavers.
Form 4 examinations were mainly academic and where vocational subjects were taught and examined, such subjects were not recognised as acquired skills by industry and other employers.
Content of such practical subjects was purely theoretical with little or no practical training and experience. Some main indigenous subjects such as IsiNdebele and ChiShona were taught only in those regions where they were commonly spoken but not to all Zimbabwean school pupils.
Parents, Chiefs, businesspeople and other stakeholders saw this practice as colonial, retrogressive and divisive to the nation.
Teachers, students and parents saw the practice of pupils choosing some subjects, or having the school to choose for them subjects on the grounds that the learners cannot learn other subject as discriminatory and limiting learners to the curricula they do not want. Some students even cited situations when the headmaster would “assign them a practical subject” they were not interested in.
From the evidence given by the communities, students and other stakeholders, it was evident to the commissioners that the education system needed to change, and that curriculum had to change to meet the demands and challenges of the 21st Century.
Section C of the report thus deals in greater detail with the issues and findings on the Education Structure, the National Curriculum; Early Childhood Education, Primary Education, Secondary Education, Mathematics, Citizenship Education, Culture and Sport Education, Environmental Education, Health Education, Science, and Vocational and technical Education and Training.
Each of these areas are examined in full in the report.
The key part of the whole report lies in this area. The key relevant and important recommendations of the report which have raised debate and still calling for implementation are in this section.
The main question relates to the proposed Education Structure.
The new Education Structure
There seems to be confusion on the correct interpretation of the proposed Reform Structure of Education given in the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training.
Below is provided in simplest form, what the CIET envisaged should be done to ensure the provision of holistic, high quality education which will produce self employed and employable citizens for Zimbabweans.
It should be emphatically noted that:
1. Early Childhood Education and Development (ECD) should be part of the Education structure and system of the country;
2. That the current “Grades” structure is to be replaced by either: Basic School (BS) or Junior School (JS) 1 to 9;
3. That the current secondary education (Forms 1-6) are replaced by Senior School 1 (current forms 3-4) (and Senior School II, (current form 5-6) (SSII). This means that there will be no Junior Certificate as this is not serving any purpose.
In accordance with CIET’s recommendations, the new structure which is marked by the heavy emphasis on skills development and training, can contain the “new wine” and should be structured as follows:
LEVEL 4
Higher and Further Education
Higher degrees, research and development
Undergraduate degrees in all pathways
Diplomas in some pathways
Certificates in selected disciplines
LEVEL 3
Junior School Curriculum (Proposed)
There are four samples of Essential Curricula for each pathway.
I. Academic: Chishona (compulsory), Isindebele (compulsory), English/Geography, Environmental Science, History of Zimbabwe, World History, Religious Studies, Mathematics, Sciences, Hunhu/Ubuntu and Other Languages.
II. Business/Commerce: Business Studies, Accounts, Commerce, Economics, Computers, Marketing, Transportation, Packaging, and Hunhu/Ubuntu.
III. Technology: Computer Skills, Design&Technology, Electrical Repairs, Aviation, Graphics, ICT, Machine Design, Nature of Technologies, Programming, and Intro to Soft and Hardware.
IV. Vocations: Agriculture, Hospitality/Tourism, Masonry/Building Technology, Wood Technology, Metallurgy, Cosmetology, Plumbing and Dyeing.
Each pupil should take at least one area of skills from each of the other three skills pathways annually up to the end of schooling.
Unhu/ubuntu should be taught in all subjects. Each pupil will take all the academic prescribed subjects and languages from JS1 to 9. All skills – must be taught from JS1 to 9 to help pupils make informed decisions at the channelling stage. However, some languages will be offered as electives chosen by pupils.
Each pupil, at the end of JS 9 must continue studying in all the three pathways up to Form VI (SSII).
Senior School is the final schooling year terminating with National Examinations whose results enable students to enter teacher training colleges; polytechnics for Advanced Diplomas; universities for degrees and other higher qualifications; render students qualifications to be either self-employed or create employment through their high skills developed in the three skills pathways combined during the 18 school years; skills development and study in all three pathways must continue up to Senior School II and where possible to college and/or university; students are skilled to enter the field of employment.
The four skills pathways are the back bone of this education reform and should not be distorted if our national education has to produce the envisioned graduates who are holistically equipped and empowered to be self-employed cadres and employment creators.
If the new structure and new curriculum were implemented, the current huge figures of unemployed school leavers would be far less.
The structure, as indicated in the report calls for all ministries to play their relevant roles in implementing the curriculum, the industries, parents, local authorities and communities would have their roles specified by law in the education and training of our citizens.
The real implementation issue unresolved lies the recommendations made in this section.
The matrix of time-frame implementation of the Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training Report is given at the end of the Report. The commission had worked out a detailed plan therein supplied.
Finally, correct, relevant and effective implementation of the recommendations in this area would certainly cascade into higher and tertiary education.
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