Call for historians to write books

HISTORIANS should research and write books that chronicle Africa’s undiluted history, History Teachers of Zimbabwe president, Mr Manners Musongolewa has said.

Speaking during a History Teachers of Zimbabwe conference held in Harare recently, Mr Musongolewa said the assignment must not be left in the hands of foreigners.

“People write our history for us and they do so with a biased slant.

For instance, some writers have claimed that David Livingstone discovered the Victoria Falls. The Tonga people who have lived in the Zambezi Valley for many centuries, clearly knew about the great waterfall and called it Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders). It is therefore up to us to write the true version of our history,” said Mr Musongolewa.

The conference had guest speakers from Zimbabwean, Botswana, Zambian and South African high schools and institutions of higher learning.

Speakers touched on essay writing at ‘A’ Level and the answering of ‘O’ Level set questions.

They also tackled how Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALAs) are supposed to be handled.

Mr Mupfumira, a ZIMSEC official, said cheating in the marking of CALAs cannot be tolerated.

“The third term will be a very busy term. If children do not have CALA A up to E, they will not get their results. Teachers and learners should have their hands on the deck and it should not be a rushed process.”

A history teacher, Mrs Vimbai

Musengezi-Mashango said Heritage Studies and History should be viewed as complementary subjects.

“History and Heritage Studies are complementary and there should be no competition between the two. Their topics overlap and it is the learner who must choose which learning area he or she prefers,” she said.

Dr Patrick Ngandini, a director in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, said History teachers should be sales people of the subject.

“You have to make learners love the subject. If you do so, there won’t be any fear of Heritage Studies taking over your subject,” he said.

Speakers also spoke about different teaching methodologies, including ICT, music and story telling.