New curriculum by year-end
CAREER educationist CDE TORERAYI MOYO (TM) was recently appointed Minister of Primary and Secondary Education. He brings to the portfolio a wealth of experience and knowledge spanning nearly three decades. The Sunday Mail’s NOKUTHULA DUBE (ND) spoke to Minister Moyo about his plans for education.
ND: What is your vision for the education sector?
TM: I have to ensure all Zimbabweans who need education get it, in spite of their gender, age and geographical location. I cherish the idea of being the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education for everyone.
Broadly, you should remember that we have a national vision, that of being an upper middle-income economy by the year 2030, as enunciated by His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe, Dr E.D. Mnangagwa.
Whatever I am going to do will revolve around contributing to achieving that vision.
Education, by its nature, should lead to social transformation of society. ND: Your ministry recently established over 100 rapid response centres to tackle malpractices such as illegal tuition fees hikes by school authorities. What does that initiative seek to achieve? TM: Indeed, we have established what we call command centres countrywide as a way of being responsive to the needs of our clients. We are a service ministry.
We have to make sure our clients get the services they need in the earliest time and place convenient to them.
These centres are found at our district education offices, which are closer to our clients.
We have also established the same at our provincial and national offices.
So, our clients can make a choice of going to our district, provincial or head offices if they have issues of concern.
These centres have started working and we have officers at each level.
These officers are the contact persons.
We are, therefore, encouraging the public to raise any of the officers on the contact list that we have provided.
The course of action (against offending school authorities) will be determined by the nature of the offence committed. Remember, our members are civil servants, and, as such, their duties are regulated by Statutory Instrument 1 of 2000, as amended. ND: Government is presently undertaking a review of the school curriculum and recently conducted public hearings as part of the initiative. What were the outcomes from the outreach programme? TM: The review is ongoing. We hope to conclude it before the end of this year.
Our consultants are consolidating whatever was obtained from the public during the outreach.
We will inform the nation in due course, and media personnel will also be updated. ND: Government is on record saying Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALA) will not be removed from the curriculum but will only be reviewed. Which specific areas of CALA are going to be reviewed?
TM: Again, the CALA issue will be determined by the outcome of the review. We have heard all the concerns from our stakeholders on CALA and we are attending to them.
The decision on the CALA model for Zimbabwe will soon be announced after studying recommendations of the consultants that are assisting with the curriculum review.
Part of the review were the extensive consultations held at every school, where parents, learners and other stakeholders had a chance to share their thoughts and recommendations on how continuous assessment should be done in Zimbabwe. So, this is work in progress, and we are doing it with a sense of urgency because it is of concern to many of our stakeholders.
ND: Under the National Development Strategy 1, Government has undertaken to construct hundreds of schools? How many educational institutions have been developed since the advent of the Second Republic?
TM: School construction is a process. The number of schools is determined by the needs of our society.
Our population has never stopped bringing forth children.
That explains the transient nature of the need for education. We have long since established that we need more than 300 brand-new schools. That figure has gone up because of the continuous need for education. Several brand-new schools — constructed under OFID (OPEC Fund for International Development) throughout the country — are a testimony of the good work under the Second Republic in education. ND: Can you give us an update on the proposed free State-funded education initiative? TM: Nothing is free; someone somewhere has to pay for it, and, in this case, it is Government that is paying.
As enunciated under the Constitution of Zimbabwe, our learners are entitled to State-funded basic education, which should be progressively provided.
Mechanisms are being put in place to ensure we fulfil the mandate.
The Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) is a move towards State-funded basic education.
We also urge parents to play their part in paying fees so that schools are able to run smoothly. ND: How many learners are currently being assisted through BEAM?
TM: The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, handles the BEAM programme. As currently configured, it caters for the majority of our disadvantaged learners, which are upwards of 1,5 million.