The Sunday Mail
Edith Mukuwapasi
IN principle the new curriculum draft is a noble intervention for Zimbabwe. However, the devil is in the detail of the objectives and desired outcomes of this curriculum draft. Zimbabwe’s education system and structures require total overhaul before a new curriculum draft can be implemented.
The draft itself is 20 years behind the technological advancement currently prevailing. The methods used for data collection are archaic. There is no advantage in having children visit commerce and industry to gather information. Electronic and telecommunication is cheaper, faster and more objective. It also reduces exposure of an already vulnerable population to abuse. The “tasks” themselves must be streamlined and reduced according to disciplines (art, sciences, commerce etc) not according to subjects (Shona, English, Biology, Mathematics, etc). The intended objectives are the same regardless of subject matter.
Course work as an assessment tool has one major Achilles heel. It is inherently subjective rather than objective. The United Kingdom introduced a similar curriculum model but abandoned it in 2014 after just 10 years as its benefits are less compared to the traditional examination system.
Many a time the decisions made by the former minister always with good intention were reactive rather than proactive. The real issues affecting education tend to be overshadowed by mundane issues such as extra lessons payment of fees on enrolment.
The real challenges affecting the majority of schools such as adequate resources, both technical and manpower, accountability, effective teacher supervision have not been attended to as a result. Imagine a school in one of Harare’s high-density suburbs have an enrolment of up to 2 500 in one institution.
Up to now these are still outstanding issues. Imposition of policies without a rigorous interrogation of needs and objectives of stakeholder results in lack of a shared vision, resistance and in this case outright sabotage haemorrhaging the already mortally wounded education system in Zimbabwe.
It is not too late to redress this uproar as even now parents, teachers and students are in disarray. Consultation interrogation and marketing still need to be done. Structures, systems and resources streamlining are required for this draft to be implementable. As it is, I like most others are not. Some schools in the rural areas have no qualified staff and adequate manpower.
Knowstics Academy has already a workable model where professionals such as engineers, agronomists, auto mechanics, etc, have been integrated in our teaching programmes to blend knowledge and skills and produce a hybrid who is not only more informed of the needs, expectations and prerequisite skills in the job market. Our student has already developed “curiosity” and is therefore likely to explore various opportunities to create effect and affect the world. The wider exposure increases confidence as evidenced by the outstanding and extraordinary pass rate in both Zimsec and CIE examinations our girls have been posting. The best CIE Chemistry student in Zimbabwe for 2016 had 10 units at Grade 7 but was able to complete her “O” Levels in three years scoring 7As and 3Bs. At “A” Level posted 15 points in both Zimsec and CIE. She is doing medicine at UZ and I am sure will continue to distinguish herself as others before her have done.
A wide spectrum of subjects is an idea I support for it is said that knowledge is power. I, however, have reservations on the content in some of these subjects. There is need to streamline the syllabi and content to deal with issues of duplication, lack of connectivity, continuity and relevance of subject matter in most of the syllabi.
The splitting of Mathematics at “A” Level into Statistics and Pure Maths is a potential disaster which many of our students will pay a heavy price for in later life. This issue requires an urgent review.
The new curriculum draft in its present form and structure is a hard sell. There are prerequisite fundamentals that need to be addressed. There is great need for skills in our education system but there is a greater need in effective management and supervision systems. As it is, a good number of our schools are hardly that. They are platforms of experimentation with “freedom” for innocent children whose parents pay dearly in school fees and expect a lot for their investment only to be disappointed as the pass rate at “O” Level is below 30 percent at most in most schools. Address the culture of impunity and lack of accountability at all levels in the school system and the new curriculum draft will have some chance of succeeding
Teachers need to teach. Parents need to support and reinforce the learning process. Communication lines need to open and flow in both directions between policy makers, stakeholders and intended beneficiaries, the children who are right now bemused and alienated by the very instrument which they are supposed to benefit from.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak and to be heard.
Edith Mukuwapasi is a veteran educationist and Principal of the Knowstics Group of Schools.
