adminRay Bande Senior Reporter
ORDINARY Level students will soon not be sitting for an integrated science examination, while pupils will sit for Shona Language and Shona Literature as separate subjects, all as part of a raft of measures meant to improve the country’s education system contained in the new education curriculum, a Cabinet Minister has said. Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Dr Lazarus Dokora, said this while addressing school heads and school development committee chairpersons from 694 schools from four districts in Manicaland gathered at Mutare Teachers’ College last Thursday.
The Minister, who is on a whirlwind tour of the country where he is unpacking the new education curriculum to school authorities, had a similar meeting the next day in Rusape where he also addressed school heads and school development chairpersons from the other three districts of Manicaland.
Dr Dokora said the new curriculum, which was an outcome of the Nziramasanga Commission recommendations, was aimed at making schools produce graduates that have business and entrepreneurial skills in order to be relevant in the prevailing economic conditions in the country.
“Integraded Science was just an appreciation of Science. Since its inception, we were losers in the process with our children only being taught just the basics of Science. It will be phased out.
“Added to that, Shona Language and Shona Literature will be separate exams just like English Language and English Literature,” he said. “The constitution of the country clearly spells out that the Land Reform Programme is irreversible, yet as a ministry we continued to treat agriculture as just another practical subject.
“Although we got the green-light to teach agriculture from Grade Four it was not examinable. Did we think that the people who took over farms would get farming knowledge like manna from heaven?
“A child should come out of school with something he or she can do. Entrepreneurial skills and business skills must be taught at an early level so that when one finished Grade Seven they should have something to do out what they were taught in Primary School. Dr Dokora said 2016 marks the first phase of the implementation of the implementation of the new education curriculum.
“September to December last year was the inception phase wherein preparatory work was done. 2016 is the first year of implementation. 2017 will be the second phase of the implementation process. By 2022 we hope to have exhausted implementation cycle and then have a chance to review it.
“That is when we then drop the things that are irrelevant and carry on or add things deemed relevant to our situation by then,” he said. Dr Dokora also said turning children away from school was illegal in Zimbabwe and school authorities should instead engage parents effectively to recover amounts they were owed.
Cde Dokora said school going children were guaranteed of an education through the supreme law of the land therefore turning them away for failure to pay school fees leaves us facing legal challenges.
“This has left us facing legal lawsuits after some of you have send children away from school for failure to pay school fees. “You must engage their parents in order to recover amounts are owed. In fact the child is not supposed to know their school fees debt that his or her parent owes the school,” said Dr Dokora.
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