Government reviewing curriculum 

Source: Government reviewing curriculum | The Chronicle

Dr Evelyn Ndlovu

Leonard Ncube 

leonard.ncube@chronicle.co.zw 

GOVERNMENT has said it is considering proposals by parents and guardians to reduce the number of projects done by learners on the continuous activity learning assessment (CALA).

Government, through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is reviewing curriculum amid concerns over CALA, which parents and guardians say is a burden not only to children but to them as well. 

Despite the workload, CALA also has a brighter side where it trains children in lifelong skills. 

The curriculum was implemented in 2015 as a product of recommendations made by the Nziramasanga Commission set up in 1998 under the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training (CEIT). 

The skills-based education was meant to respond to changes in the education sector and increased learning areas with the aim of producing pupils with skills to solve problems instead of just theorising issues. 

Government is consulting different stakeholders including parents and guardians as it reviews the curriculum, a process that is expected to provide direction on areas to be focused on as the country steps up measures to achieve an upper middle income economy by 2030.

In an interview at Ndlovu Secondary School outside Victoria Falls, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Evelyn Ndlovu said the issue of CALA is topical during the curriculum review.

“I think what we should do is retrain our teacher and build capacity and then teachers will then build capacity in children. We are rolling out a programme of reviewing our curriculum and we are busy consulting parents on how we can deal with CALA. Some are proposing that the projects should be less which I think is best to reduce the number of projects that can be done per student and not burden them but make them enjoy,” said Dr Ndlovu.

Chief Director Curriculum Development and Technical Services in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Mr Cyprian Kent Masocha (left)

 “So we are reviewing the curriculum and parents will input. One of the recommendations so far is that we must build capacity because people don’t understand CALA, but when we were growing up we used to do CALA and wrote some periodic tests as well as did some projects such as gardening and others. CALA is just a word, it was not officially said but we were doing CALA during our time where we would use locally available resources to do projects which kids should do now because CALA is not just computerised.”