Grade 7 learners to return to school, continue with syllabus

Source: Grade 7 learners to return to school, continue with syllabus | The Herald

Mr Ndoro

THE Government has directed schools to ensure Grade 7 learners continue  attending classes and proceed to the Life Orientation syllabus.

Grade 7 learners finished writing the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) examinations on Monday and stopped going to school.

In a memorandum dated 11 October, 2022 seen by New Ziana, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education instructed District Schools Inspectors to remind primary school heads that Grade 7 learners should continue to attend classes.

“District Schools Inspectors, kindly remind your Heads of Schools

(Primary) that Grade 7 pupils are to continue to attend school as they will now be doing the Life Orientation Programme (LOP).

“Request your schools to submit timetable for Life Orientation Programme, at the same time submit attendance statistics daily,” read the memorandum.

Ministry spokesperson Taungana Ndoro confirmed the development, saying the tradition has always been that Grade 7 learners continued attending school until the end of the term for social protection.

“The school system protects them from sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Being at school prevents them from loafing around in the townships where they end up engaging in wayward behaviour,” he said.

Ndoro said parents also paid fees for the whole term, so stopping children from going to school would be short changing them.

He said traditionally, Grade 7 learners use the period after writing examinations to undertake activities that enhance life-skills as well as to learn how to transition to Form One.

“It is the time when they would go on educational tours to places like

Victoria Falls, Kariba and the like, since it has thematic links to other learning areas across the curriculum,” he explained.

The syllabus promotes the Zimbabwean identity, norms and values through the inclusion of life skills, volunteerism, exposure to work and outward bound activities.

Topics include identity and patriotism, leadership, health, environmental issues, rights and responsibilities, enterprise and volunteerism and maintenance skills.

The programme contributes towards the development of Unhu/Ubuntu/ (humanism) through nurturing of important virtues of life such as punctuality, commitment, honesty, empathy, resilience and perseverance. — New Ziana