THE proposed Heritage-Based Education 2024-30 Curriculum has divided teachers with some expressing scepticism, while raising concern on history of the country being made a compulsory subject.
The Heritage-Based Education 2024-30 Curriculum Framework is expected to embrace history as a basis for learning and infusing technology, and shall be implemented from ECD up to secondary school level.
National shrines and cultural heritage sites will be included throughout the curriculum, and the national pledge will be accorded special emphasis in order to entrench patriotism, loyalty and respect to learners.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe President Obert Masaraure said the current history being taught in schools is flawed.
"We, however, take exception to the issue of emphasising the learning of a flawed history of Zimbabwe. The current history was written to simply praise those who assumed power in 1980. The true history of Zimbabwe, including the important roles of Zapu, Ndabaningi Sithole and all liberation war heroes should be taught,” said Masaraure.
“The missteps of the ruling party and violations of human rights post-independence, including Gukurahundi, must be taught in our schools. The heroic sacrifices of people like Morgan Tsvangirayi towards producing the current Constitution must be part of the taught history. History should not be a eulogy of Zanu PF, but a detailed account of our past to inform the future endeavours.”
Masaraure said the proposed new curriculum was promising because it has been presented in all the right words, ... however, they remain sceptical of the government's ability to deliver the promises in the blueprint.
“We will, however, not celebrate these promises, the preamble of the 2015 to 2022 was also couched in the right terms, but the detailed blueprint was a direct opposite.
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“Funding of these good intentions is also important. The Treasury has shown a stinking austerity attitude which is not in line with realising these big promises.”
Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) spokesperson Goodwill Taderera said the proposed curriculum was an upgrade from the Continuous Assessment Learning Activity (CALA) programme.
“As Zimta we submitted a paper to the Education minister to the effect that almost everything had to be revised, particularly the CALA which was hovering around 30% and the number of learning areas which we thought needed to be reduced,” he said.
“We are yet to study the proposed new curriculum, but it is a welcome development. We hear that they have now made it a Heritage-Based curriculum and that they have reduced from the primary sector about 11 subjects to 6 and that from the secondary 7 to 5 and we think this is a welcome development.”
Educators Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Tapedza Zhou said the proposed new curriculum is still sketchy and raises more questions than answers. “Does the New Heritage-based curriculum differ from the previous one which was competence-based, what are the areas of continuity and change? How does the minister intend to overcome the resource question given that the previous curriculum was paralysed due to failure to address this question?” he queried.
“One critical error made, therefore, is to rely on local resources in bankrolling the New Curriculum despite the bankruptcy of the teachers, learners and parents.
“Another Concern is to have both teachers and learners being forced to endure a huge curriculum shift each time an education minister is changed,” he added.
