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Debra Matabvu
THERE are profound changes taking place in the education sector.
Cabinet recently approved the heritage-based curriculum framework for 2024-2030. It marks the first time the Government has reviewed the primary and secondary school curricula since the inception of the new curriculum in 2015.
Heritage-based education focuses on producing goods and services useful to the economy, leveraging on the country’s rich heritage and natural endowments. The new educational thrust aligns with the vision of creating a modern, highly industrialised and prosperous country within the next six years.
Principally, it seeks to impart leadership, problem-solving, business and financial literacy, and entrepreneurial skills to learners.
“Gone are the days of teaching children to draw the body parts of insects or naming all the rivers of a foreign land. Instead, the new thrust is to impart to pupils leadership and problem-solving skills, business and financial literacy, entrepreneurial skills and a sense of patriotism and Ubuntu,” said Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana in a recent opinion editorial.
“With the new heritage-based curriculum, Zimbabwe will not be producing graduates with theoretical high-sounding volumes of information, but rather, individuals who are equipped with the necessary scientific and technological skills needed to succeed in today’s world.”
History of Zim’s school curricula
A curriculum is the total of all learning experiences and opportunities that are provided to learners in the context of formal and non-formal education. The history of Zimbabwe’s educational curriculum can be traced to the periods before and after independence.
A dual education system — one for Africans and another for Europeans — existed before independence. It essentially promoted discrimination and segregation. The discrimination applied not only to learners but also the curriculum, its content, scope, provision of infrastructure and financial resources.
This ensured Africans received only education that prepared them to be employees of the colonialists. From the late 1920s to mid-1930s, the colonial governments set up commissions on European education, namely the Frank Tate Commission (1929) and the Fox Commission (1935). There was little reference to African education.
However, during the period of African uprisings, the colonial government set up two commissions to look into African education — the Kerr Commission (1952) and the Judges Commission (1963) — as well as the Lewis-Taylor Committee (1974).
Despite these commissions recommending a review of African education, the recommendations were either partially implemented or ignored. In 1980, the new Government took aggressive steps to redress the inequalities that had existed during the colonial era.
Primary and secondary school enrolment increased significantly as the Government introduced various policies, such as democratising the education sector and free primary education.
An increase in enrolment for primary and secondary education, however, posed challenges, as it put enormous pressure on infrastructure, as well as human and financial resources.
In addition, those who completed Ordinary Level could not be absorbed into technical colleges because they lacked practical skills. The curriculum had remained largely theoretical and academic for Africans.
But in September 1985, the Government requested the Ministry of Education “to prepare a more definitive paper” on the curriculum. It resulted in the production of the Structure and Content of General Education in 1986.
This recommended the continuation of free primary education, the introduction of two practical subjects during the first two years of secondary school and streamlining of education from Form Three. However, external and internal factors, such as the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, economic competitiveness of the country against its regional and international peers, and the emergence of information and communication technologies, forced the Government to relook the curriculum.
In 1998, the Government set up a 13-member commission led by Dr Caiphus Nziramasanga. The following year, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training Report, commonly known as the Nziramasanga Commission Report, was published. The document recommended several interventions, which included nine-year compulsory basic education, compulsory broad-based theoretical and practical skills learning, the incorporation of continuous assessment learning activities (CALAs) as part of examinations and a life skills orientation programme.
Other recommendations from the commission included compulsory Shona and Ndebele in all schools, and the use of mother languages as a medium of instruction for early childhood development (ECD) learners.
The Nziramasanga Commission’s recommendations were adopted for the country’s new curriculum, which was introduced in 2015.
The CALA era
Zimbabwe’s education blueprint — the Curriculum Framework for Primary and Secondary Education (2015-2022) — was introduced in 2015.
The document largely borrowed from the Nziramasanga Commission Report; the Constitution (2013); the Education Act, as amended in 2006; and the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZIM ASSET, 2013). The new curriculum was designed in the context of preparing local learners for the needs of the 21st century regarding the relevance of the education system, which prioritised critical skills and competences.
The curriculum sought a system that gave learners an appreciation of the country’s values and identity. At the same time, there was a bid to establish a strong scientific and technological bias within the curriculum as part of the Government’s skills development strategy.
Within the curriculum, the Government also sought to promote vocational training, with emphasis on hands-on learning.
The curriculum would be reviewed periodically. Some of the changes included the introduction of a national school pledge, aggressive implementation of information and communication technology, physical education, sport and mass displays, indigenous languages and heritage studies.
The new curriculum also ushered in CALAs and life skills orientation programme.
This witnessed an increase in the number of learning areas and examinations, as well as a change in the teaching and reading material.
However, implementation of the new curriculum was tested during the Covid-19 pandemic times, when learners were forced to attend online classes. Lack of reading material, as well as internet challenges, affected most learners, especially those in rural areas.
There was, however, resistance to CALAs.
During 2023 stakeholders’ review meetings, the most contentious issue were CALAs. Most stakeholders, especially parents and guardians, urged the Government to remove the components from the curriculum.
The meetings also emphasised the need to reduce learning areas.
A new era
The time frame for the heritage-based curriculum framework is 2024 to 2030.
Under this curriculum, all learners at secondary school will now be placed on a two-route pathway of their choice, determined by whether they want to engage in academic pursuit or want to acquire vocational skills.
The heritage-based curriculum will also replace CALAs with school-based projects.
Furthermore, the framework reduces the number of subjects that a candidate can sit during an examination. An Ordinary Level learner now takes five compulsory subjects, with an option of three; while those at Advanced Level are obliged to study a maximum of three, determined by their career choices. ECD to Grade Seven activities have now been streamlined by integrating science and technology, physical education and arts, and social sciences. Learners at primary school will take a maximum of six learning areas, instead of a minimum of 27.
According to the implementation modalities, all the 2024 examination classes — Grade Seven, Form Four and Form Six — will continue with the old curriculum and its assessments. This means the 2024 exam classes will continue with CALAs. However, non-examination classes will start doing school-based projects. Each learner is set to prepare one project per learning area, and this will constitute part of the coursework mark in 2025.
Benefits
The heritage-based curriculum will foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
This shift towards a more holistic education system reflects commitment to empower the next generation of Zimbabweans.
By equipping schoolchildren with the tools to lead, solve problems and navigate complexities of the modern world, the Government is convinced that Zimbabwe will lay the foundation for a future brimming with innovation and economic prosperity.
Countries that have changed their systems
Kenya
In 2019, Kenya adopted the competency-based curriculum, the Basic Education Curriculum Framework, which seeks to impart critical thinking and problem-solving skills to learners.
South Africa
The authorities announced in May 2022 that both schools and colleges in South Africa will see changes in the curriculum, in line with the government’s strategy to equip young citizens with relevant skills to boost the economy.
Nigeria
In 2013, the Nigerian government introduced the Universal Basic Education curriculum, which emphasises basic literacy, numeracy and life skills.
Rwanda
Over the past few years, Rwanda implemented significant reforms in its education sector, including changes to the curriculum. The country has focused on promoting competency-based education and integrating ICT into teaching and learning processes.
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