Gvt holds National Curriculum review consultations

The government says it will be holding national curriculum review consultations from 23 to 24 May 2023, senior official has said.

In a notification addressed to media houses, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Thabela the exercise will help the country shape its education in line with its demands.

Meanwhile, Primary and Secondary Education Deputy Minister, Edgar Moyo in the National Assembly recently said after concerns by legislators that Continuous Assessment Learning Areas (CALA), that was introduced recently was burdening pupils and it therefore need to be reviewed.

“Currently, we are running a curriculum review process. This week we are finishing the training for people to conduct the reviews. I think, next week on the 16th, that is when we are going to have the national review session which is going to run nationally in all settings,” he said.

“It is there that we expect to receive recommendations from different stakeholders on how to view the entire curriculum including this formative examination situation which we call CALA.

“On the issue of packaging the assignments that are given to students, our school heads and teachers have been trained to package the assignments into manageable units not to choke the children by giving them everything at once.

“If that is happening, it is happening against the policy of Government. We expect them to package the assignment into manageable units so that our children are given a period of time when that activity is taking place.”

Deputy Minister Moyo said observations made by legislators should be taken on board during the review meeting, adding if there was need, further training for teachers would be carried out to streamline the CALA to make it manageable for pupils.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, through the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC), introduced CALA in 2021 as a candidate assessment procedure that requires pupils to perform, demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and proficiency in their learning areas before the main exam.

Candidates’ academic aptitude is assessed continuously (coursework) to contribute 30 percent to their final marks with summative or knowledge skills assessed during examinations contributing 70 percent to the candidate’s final grade,” he said.

Zwnews