admin“THE essence of a coalition is to speak with one voice. Advocacy is stronger when it collective,” said Education Coalition of Zimbabwe (ECOZ) national chairperson, Mr Maxwell Rafomoyo, recently in Mutare. I asked him: “What is your advocacy focused on and what do you collectively want spoken with one voice, for or against who or what?”
The following is an interview which ensued head-to-head with the ECOZ advocate, Mr Rafomoyo:
MR: I have come to Mutare to find out what people think about the new Curriculum whose first stage of implementation is January 2015.
MM: The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education has spoken, and spoken loud and clear on various fora where the curriculum is coming from and going? Who are you to seemingly set another curriculum review? Just who or what is ECOZ?
MR: ECOZ stands for Education Coalition of Zimbabwe. It is a group of ( 32) non-governmental organizations which agreed to come together to assist Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MOPSE) to let citizens access education. In Manicaland it is chaired by PTUZ, the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe. Recently in Harare a 35 strong coalition agreed to work together towards this goal.
MM: Mr Rafomoyo, be clear here. Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education under Minister Dokora has a mandate to drive the Zimbabwean education? Who is ECOZ and mandated by what act of parliament to assist Ministry of Education? That is my question. Is it an ‘opposition party’ to the cause and mandate of the MOPSE? The relevant minister has led the new curriculum thrust and come January 2016 the first stage of implementation begin? Does ECOZ want him to stop and wait for your input?
MR: We want to speak with one voice to review the whole exercise, especially on three areas: the Life skills Orientation Programme in which the new order says Form 4 students will be attached to some work place immediately after sitting their final examinations, that’s one, two is the Continuous Assessment idea and three, are implementers of this new curriculum already trained? If not, most likely not as stage one begins January 2016, two months to go, how will it start with untrained personnel, untrained teachers?
MM: Answer my question sir. Are you intending to do that which the Ministry of Education is not capable of doing? Surely Minister Dokora cannot begin a programme of change which he cannot drive, monitor and evaluate? Or do you think that is exactly what he is doing? Asking a bird to fly without wings?
MR: Look Mr Mtisi the 32 non-governmental organisations which constitute ECOZ have interests in the marvelous idea of curriculum change. We are partners in making sure the proposals and ideas work. As it is we have a feeling the process was hurriedly done and not enough consultations were put forward by stakeholders to ensure a smooth and reasonable transition from the old to the new curriculum.
MM: We all have a strong interest in the changes. Yes we do. These are our children targeted and it is their future at stake here. But we have not mobilized parents or even the students who are the major stakeholders in the education value chain to review the review.
MR: The 32 non-governmental organizations I mentioned earlier on have already invested much into the education sector in various ways. As partners they or we have a genuine interest to ensure the new curriculum works.
MM: You seem to doubt the Ministry of Education alone cannot succeed. Is that a fair assessment of your coalition agenda?
MR: It is certainly not a fair judgment of our goal. We are for the new curriculum. It is a wonderful idea, but…
MM: But what? That is exactly what I am getting at. You use friendly resistance, friendly fire to resist changes proposed by Dr Dokora. That is what diplomacy is all about. You fight with a smile on your face. And in this context you use your money and partnership to determine speed, direction and purpose. Talk to me.
MR: The first mistake was inadequate consultations.
MM: Wait wait wait! One day of national consultations was enough for the protagonist, how many did YOU want?
MR: Must have taken longer in our view. Many people had no idea what the review officers wanted them to say or contribute. Some were wondering why now when for time immemorial they had never been consulted in any way about what their children studied at school. People needed education, thorough education, on what this exercise was all about first for them to be meaningfully involved.
MM: Proceed. What more grievances do you have? What else in your wisdom was not done well or could have been done better?
RF: After the inadequate hurried so-called consultations, the review task force did not come back to say this is what we collected and this is what we are going to do and do it this way and that way. We are now learning come January 2016, the bus begins to move. And the so-called Continuous Assessment, what an interesting idea! How can schools whose teachers lose pupils’ examination answer scripts be entrusted with Continuous Assessment management? That’s one. Two, what will happen to thousands of independent candidates whose right it is to re-sit exams as and when they see fit anywhere they are? Who will assign tasks for their continuous assessment? The new curriculum says Primary pupils must all do proper gardening or Agriculture and the marks from this will determine final grade. Are you aware there are schools in Zimbabwe, many of them in rural areas where they bring drinking water in bottles? How can such dry schools even dream about real Agric or Horticultural projects?
MM: Are you done with ECOZ grievances? You sound quite angry or aggrieved.
MR: They are not ECOZ grievances Mr Mtisi. And we are not angry. We don’t use anger to discuss. We use facts and reason. These are views from parents and guardians of pupils and students in the schools whom we have visited countrywide. In Masvingo they asked us to invite the Minister himself to come and speak to them. Last but not least is the Life Skills Orientation Programme? Where are the companies or work places to accommodate all Form 4s after their final exams? Do they want to absorb these pupils anyway, to do what in these work places?
education sector but acting like concerned partners. But look, I am not suggesting you have no point. In a democracy everyone is entitled to a personal opinion about anything and deserves to be listened to, but admit it.
That’s my point. Admit that you want people to resist this new curriculum, whether for good or bad, that is not for me to judge. You are simply saying, “Back to the drawing board!” A traveler on a wrong road will never arrive, are you not?
MR: We are saying there is time to re-consult and to do better what was done perhaps hurriedly and not as reasonably.
MM : Thank you Mr Rafomoyo for your time. Your sentiments are not vague. You have made your point. We hope a comfort zone will soon be found between Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and ECOZ. I have enjoyed this head-to-head interview.
MR: My pleasure Mr Mtisi.
Online Reporter