Zim launches controversial curriculum
GOVERNMENT has adopted a new education curriculum which will make Zimbabwean history as a compulsory subject to promote patriotism among learners.
National shrines and cultural heritage sites will be featuring throughout the curriculum, and the national pledge will be accorded special emphasis to entrench patriotism, loyalty and respect and thereby inculcate the proper mindset, Information minister Jenfan Muswere said during post Cabinet briefing yesterday.
The Heritage-Based Education 2024-2030 Curriculum Framework is expected to embrace heritage as a basis for learning and infusing technology and shall be implemented from ECD up to upper secondary school level.
“The pathways, whose learning areas are provided for in the framework, are science, technology, engineering and mathematics; visual and performing arts; humanities, especially the history of Zimbabwe; technical/vocational education and commercials,” Muswere said.
He said the curriculum would be anchored on programmes/ learning area infrastructure, staffing infrastructure, physical and digital infrastructure, legal and regulatory infrastructure and financial infrastructure.
At infant level (ECD A to Grade 2), learning areas are being reduced from the previous 11 to six. The reduction will also apply at junior level (Grades 3 to 7). At secondary school level, the core and compulsory learning areas are being reduced from seven to five.
Government has rationalised the controversial continuous assessment learning areas (Cala) to school-based continuous assessment.
Under the school-based continuous assessment, learners will do projects and tasks in school, which will constitute a coursework mark that will contribute to the final examination under the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council for each subject.
Parents and teachers’ representatives have been petitioning the government since 2022 to scrap Cala arguing that learners, schools and teachers were not able to undertake the exercise.
Muswere said the reduction of the learning areas would also apply at junior level Grades Three to Seven.
At secondary school level, the core and compulsory learning areas have been reduced to five from seven.
“Learners at secondary school level will study at least three electives from the following categories: sciences, languages, humanities, commercials, technical and vocational and physical education and arts.”