The Sunday News
THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education introduced a new curriculum this year.
There have been a number of reports bordering on how the new curriculum has been implemented. Some of these reports are true while some are false. This week Sunday News Senior Reporter Tinomuda Chakanyuka (TC) sat down with the permanent secretary in the ministry Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango (UM) to talk about the new curriculum and other developments in the education sector. Below are excerpts from the interview.
TC: How is the implementation of the new curriculum going so far, and what would be your reaction to sentiments that the process was rushed?
UM: Implementation of the new curriculum commenced on the 10th January 2017. The implementation is phased thus,
(a) At Infant Level, the curriculum has been introduced at ECDa and Grade One. Thus, ECDb and Grade Two will continue with the old curriculum.
(b) At Junior Level, the curriculum has been introduced at Grade Three. Thus, Grades Four, Five, Six and Seven continue with the old curriculum.
(c) At Secondary Level, the curriculum has been introduced to Forms One, Three and Five. Thus, Forms Two, Four and Six continue with the old curriculum.
The implementation of the new curriculum for the mentioned grades has started well. Teams from head office and the Province are out in the field monitoring the implementation of the new curriculum. Last Monday 6th February I was in Bulawayo and I sampled a number of schools that included Baines Infant, Lobengula Primary, Gampu Primary and Evelyn High School to assess the implementation of the new curriculum. Generally most of these schools have embraced the new curriculum with a lot of enthusiasm. There might be some areas still to be revisited and hence the phased approach. In terms of the last part of your question, what stakeholders should appreciate is that the curriculum has been packed on the shelf for the past 18 years and what is the rationale in thinking that the implementation is rushed?
TC: What are some of the challenges that you have encountered in implementing the new curriculum and how are you working on overcoming them?
UM: It’s premature to have noted challenges associated with the implementation of the curriculum. The challenges that might not be associated with the introduction of the new curriculum per se are to do with a skewed teacher/pupil ratio, infrastructure and payment of levies and tuition fees, among others.
TC: Critics claim that teachers are not well trained on the curriculum, and that some schools do not have teachers with requisite skills to teach some of the new learning areas that came with the new curriculum. How valid and true are these assertions? If the claims are true what is being done to normalise the situation?
UM: Training teachers started right from the Inception Phase of the curriculum in 2015 right to 2016 which is Phase One of the implementation process and it’s ongoing. Teachers, University and Polytechnic Lecturers, Teachers’ Associations, Church Leaders (Scripture Union included) were among those who were involved in syllabi development. Notably, 2016 was dedicated to training of teachers at national, provincial, district and cluster levels. Suffice to say this is an ongoing exercise.
Pilot testing was also undertaken in 2016. It should also be noted that the ministry has capable and well qualified managers who know that for the smooth implementation of the new curriculum there is need for adequately trained teachers.
TC: There have also been claims that schools don’t have syllabi and the requisite as teaching material (text books) under the new curriculum. How severe is the shortage of text books and syllabi in schools and how far has it impacted on the implementation of the new curriculum?
UM: Soft copies of the syllabi were distributed to all schools through the 72 District Schools Inspectors (DSIs) and 10 Provincial Education Directors (PEDs) in early December 2016 and then hard copies, especially for the Levels implementing the curriculum this year, have since been dispatched. Teachers’ Guides have also been sent to schools. Book Publishers were directly involved in the process and are also exploring other avenues to include the possibility of utilising e-books.
TC: What have you done or what are you doing to assist schools that are resource constrained to get the requisite resources that will enable them to smoothly implement the new curriculum? Last week in Parliament, Minister Lazarus Dokora mentioned providing budgetary support to such schools, can you shed more light on how this support will go about and in what areas will it be rendered.
UM: Though not adequate, Government has always provided some funds under the Public Service Investment Programme (PSIP). The School Improvement Grant (SIG) has, to a large extent, cushioned most of such schools. Over and above this, the School Levies are solely meant for school development.
TC: In December last year the mnistry announced intentions to add at least 7 000 teachers to the current staff complement.
Public Service Minister Cde Prisca Mupfumira said Treasury was yet to secure funds for the exercise. How has this impacted on the implementation of the new curriculum?
UM: We have just completed a rationalisation exercise where we had to attend to teacher misplacements; over staffing at either primary or secondary levels where, as you might be aware, over 454 Primary Diploma Holder Teachers from Masvingo, Mashonaland Central and Midlands Provinces were in service and then redeployed at ECD level. We are now finalising the 2017 vacancy situation to enable us to engage the Public Service Commission and Ministry of Finance on our actual teacher requirements.
TC: There have been reports that schools are likely to close early this term to allow teachers to get more training on the new curriculum. How far true are these reports? What is Government doing to ensure that teachers are adequately trained on the new curriculum?
UM: There is a 2017 School Calendar and that is what we go by.
TC: Let’s look at the new curriculum itself. The medium of instruction at infant level is the mother tongue. What is the main reason behind such a move, and given that English language is the language for business locally and in other parts of the world, is the country not risking producing graduates that are not proficient communicators in the business world?
UM: It is empirically proven that for one to learn other languages you must have good grounding of your own “mother tongue.” Remember infant is ECD to Grade 2 and concepts are better learnt when taught in the language that the learner is familiar with. Thus, at this formative age emphasis should be on inculcating the basic concepts through playing in line with the learning areas. Notwithstanding this, the new curriculum, among others, aims at motivating learners to cherish their Zimbabwean identity and value their heritage, history and cultural traditions and preparing them for participatory citizenship.
TC: What is the new curriculum framework’s position on religious studies? Some churches have been complaining that it seems teachers are no longer teaching religious studies. May you clarify on this matter?
UM: Nothing has really changed from the old syllabus. Under the new curriculum this area has been enhanced to include “family, religion and moral education”, so nothing has been banned. Stakeholders should actually celebrate because the new areas will help mould the Zimbabwean that we all yearn for.
TC: How does the teaching of foreign languages such as Mandarin and Portuguese in schools resonate with the new curriculum’s emphasis on national heritage? Some suggest there is a bit of discord in the new curriculum in that regard.
UM: Please note that foreign languages are introduced from Junior Level (that is, from Grade 3 up). English and any other foreign languages whether it be French, Germany, Swahili, Portuguese, you name it, at are at the school’s disposal.
TC: The teaching of subjects such as Mass Displays, Visual and Performing Arts and Physical Education has been cricitised.
How are such subjects expected to help the students in future, after completing their studies? Are our schools well resourced, in terms of equipment and teachers to teach such subjects?
UM: Most parents pay huge sums of money for their kids to get private tutorship in ballet, karate, piano lessons and so forth.
How do we hope to get more (Dominic) Benhuras (sculpture) from the young? Talk of filming, dance, photography, pottery and so forth — these are some of the learning areas enshrined in the new curriculum taking cognisance of children’s talents.
Remember Kirsty Coventry learnt swimming as a toddler, the Blacks (Byron, Wayne, Cara) did the same in tennis so why can’t we emulate that?
TC: What is the latest on the schools construction programme?
UM: There is significant progress in the area and Ministry Policy is that any new schools being put up should prioritise teachers’ accommodation.
TC: Lastly, what is your general assessment of the curriculum review programme and in what way do you think it will impact on the country’s overall development?
UM: We expect to get feedback from you the stakeholders on the performance of the new curriculum, but what I should promise you is that as ministry we don’t plan to fail.
