IN 2015, the journey to revolutionarise the education sector through a curriculum review had begun.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education unveiled a seven-year Curriculum Framework for the period 2015 to 2022.
The Framework was divided into three phases, the Inception Phase unveiled in 2015 which includes development of a communication strategy specific to stakeholders and orienting senior education managers and stakeholders on the roll-out plan.
Phase 1 (2016) saw the distribution of the Narrative Report and Framework, training of line managers such as provincial, district and school trainers of trainers teams as well as some new syllabi interpretation and pilot testing, among others.
Last week, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education began the third phase to commence this month.
This Phase is a nationwide process with the Curriculum Development and Technical Unit (CDTU) expressing optimism in the success of the implementation of the new curriculum.
In an interview, director in the CDTU Dr Arthur Makanda said teachers of the implementing grades had been given the syllabuses nationwide and syllabus interpretation workshops conducted had been successful.
“We are confident our teachers are ready for the launch because we held workshops with teachers in the implementing grades on syllabus interpretation and we will do so with the others this year so that everyone is in sync with the new curriculum,” said Dr Makanda.
The implementing grades are Early Childhood Development (ECD) A, Grades One, Three and Five and Forms One, Three and Five.
Despite some sections of the media and teachers’ representatives saying the Ministry was ill-prepared for the rolling-out of the new curriculum, Dr Makanda said the distribution of learning materials was an ongoing process and that additional material will to be distributed around schools.
“Since 2015 we have been working with a number of participants who include teachers, lecturers, members of the community and publishers and we have approved an upwards of 105 scripts by the book publishers,” he said.
“End of January we will release the Teachers’ Guides and another area that we are still working on is material on the Family, Religion and Moral Education (FMRE) which did not have much material.”
Since FMRE is a cross-cutting subject, said Dr Makanda, more material is needed with emphasis on the crucial role of the family.
“The family provides the initial orientation of the learner to the world and it is imperative to understand the various aspects of the family as an integral part in educating the whole learner,” he said.
“Hence from infant level, the learner is first located in the family setting with parents and relatives including guardians as the social and filial space.”
Various religions which include African Traditional Religion (ATR), Judaism and Islam will also be introduced to learners, a move which Dr Makanda defended saying special preference had all along been given to Christianity, depriving other learners of the right to choose the religion they want as they grow.
The Curriculum Framework acknowledges that religion has a pervasive influence in society, hence the need for learners to appreciate the diversity and practices of various religions in Zimbabwe.
Thus learners will explore the linkages between family values, religion and moral traits.
The story of the national liberation struggle and governance tools such as the national constitution will also be part of the package.
Mass Displays, said Dr Makanda, is another area that still needs attention because it is biased towards the Western concept like drum majorettes. This needs a Zimbabwean touch and experiences from our rich culture.
Mass displays are the artistic performances which display the aesthetics of sound, artefacts, body movement and composition.
They promote a sense of beauty, harmony, discipline, leadership, collaboration, team work, social integration and tolerance.
Harare Provincial Education director, Lawrence Kateera said as a province, teachers had started encompassing the dictates of the new curriculum together with the distributed learning material.
“It might take a bit of time to get the new curriculum dictates in full swing but we are glad with the progress we have made so far and bear in mind that it is an ongoing process and teachers will continue to receive relevant material,” said Kateera.
Zimbabwean beliefs and values and values underpinning the curriculum include sovereignty, inter-dependence, mutual support, respect, discipline and readiness to help others.
Pride in Zimbabwean identity, moral uprightness and heritage permeate the curriculum and Zimbabwean rootedness in the foregoing belief and values reflects pan-Africanist philosophy even in the face of globalisation.
The issue of hunhu/ubuntu which epitomises universal human inter-dependence, solidarity, humaneness and sense of community common in African societies is also an integral value which the new curriculum inculcates.
One of the major attributes of the new curriculum in Zimbabwe is the successful launch of the National School Pledge last year.
Although the National School Pledge faced resistance from some retrogressive forces, it stands to date as it is being recited in schools countrywide.