Celebrating human growth through access to education Educational experts, and the best and most committed infant teachers, have known for many decades that a child who has been through a year or two of high-quality “nursery school”, as it used to be called, was ready and able for what in many ways is the most remarkable year of their lives, the year they learn to read and write.

Elliot Ziwira-Senior Writer

As Zimbabweans join the rest of the world in celebrating the International Day of Education today, it is imperative that the essence of education and what it constitutes is put into context, particularly as it speaks to humanity’s quest for universal growth.

Since education is a fundamental human right; a public responsibility and public good, access to it should be equitable and inclusive so as to achieve gender equality and mitigate poverty.

January 24 has been proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Day of Education to celebrate the role of education in peace initiatives and development.

Celebrated under the theme: “To invest in people, prioritise education”, this year’s event marks the fifth year of the Day’s commemoration.

Because gender equality is crucial in the provision of an enabling environment that takes everyone on board, UNESCO is dedicating this year’s commemorative Day to girls and women in Afghanistan, who have been dispossessed of their right to education.

What constitutes 

education then?

The philosopher Karl Marx puts the phenomenon into context when he says, “Education must constitute the basis of Man’s development of his vocational, cultural and political growth.”

It follows that an ideal education system should strive to build a complete individual with the agency to probe the reasons for being as well as interrogate the world around him without having to kowtow to political whim through adherence to inflexible set curricula.

The individual should be able to contribute to his or her own vocational, cultural and political growth and that of the broader constituencies that make it possible to change outcomes for the greater good.

In the Zimbabwean context, there was a time when upon query by a relative on what they were now doing, young people would proudly say, “Ndakapedza chikoro” (I am done with school). Their parents would equally respond, “Akapedza uyu” (she/he is done with Western forms of education).

By that they meant completing a four-year secondary course culminating in Ordinary Level examinations, regardless of whether they passed or not.

Yes, they had simply “finished” school!

The thinking behind this was that beyond O’Level, there was no more school or anything else for a black child with less than five passes. There was a reason for this thinking, though – the way the education system was designed.

The colonial education system was a repressive non-thinking machine subtly designed to keep the African poor, physically, politically, socially, spiritually, mentally and psychologically. 

It was a collective project that taught black people to be docile and obedient consumers of instructions dubiously called knowledge or education. In 1952, 62 years after settler occupation, there was no secondary school for coloureds and Asiatics (Asians) and there was one high school (Goromonzi established in 1946) for Africans. 

In 1968, there were only six secondary schools for Africans, with only two of them offering Advanced-Level classes. Only two percent of black children were allowed into Form One, and only one percent were allowed into O’ Level. 

Just a handful of those allowed into O’ Level would make it to A’Level. With only one university before 1980, the bottlenecking continued to hinder progress in the academic direction for blacks. The colonial agenda was to see to it that blacks would not outnumber whites at university.

In the 1960s, only a third of the 300 students at the University of Zimbabwe (University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland), which opened its doors in 1952, were blacks, and less than a dozen of them were Asians and coloureds. Hungry for education in a quest to improve their lot, and conscious of the bottleneck system against them, the two percent of black children allowed into Form One would achieve at least a 70 percent pass rate through hard work and determination. 

For the 98 percent of black children, school practically ended at Grade Seven, hence, the pride exhibited by those who got to O’ Level, albeit, without any passes. 

Trained to be employees, black youths found themselves with so much time on their hands and nothing to do after “being done” with school, thus compounding an already precarious socio-political situation. 

In such a system, the teacher is erroneously depicted as someone with control and ownership of knowledge, which knowledge he/she can either hold or give in relation to set rules of compliance, with his/her charges portrayed as automatons requiring guidance from the “master”. Thus, justifying colonialism as an enlightenment vehicle.

The deliberate colonial tilt was for whites, whose education was made compulsory and free up to university level. The syllabuses were also mischievously distinct, so that the colour bar could be discernible, with the master-servant relationship heightened.

There were schools meant for white children only, where a different culture aimed at uplifting the settler community was pursued at the expense of the African.

It is such a status quo that the Government of Zimbabwe disrupted at Independence in April 1980 through the Ministry of Education and Culture headed by Dzingai Mutumbuka. 

Fay Chung would also make great strides in the late 1980s and early 1990s in ascertaining the complete decolonisation of the African through education in all its variables.

Such huge steps are worthy of celebration as the Second Republic, under the stewardship of President Mnangagwa, has been hitting milestone after milestone in efforts to “invest in people” by prioritising education in line with the spirit of the International Day of Education.

At Independence in 1980, the immediate task was to repeal the discriminatory Education Act of 1979. Since then, the Government of Zimbabwe committed a significant share of the National Budget towards education.

Before Independence, the model of education required that a learner be in primary school for eight years, four years in lower secondary school, two years in upper secondary school, and four years at university (8+4+2+4).

However, the model has since changed to nine years in primary school, four years in lower secondary, two years in upper secondary and four years at university.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Statistics Report 2021 states that it is its responsibility to administer primary and secondary education in Zimbabwe under both formal and informal settings.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development co-ordinates and oversees high and tertiary education, science, technology and innovation, including teacher education, technical and vocational training as well as university learning.

By 1991, the curricula at all levels underwent transformation throughout the education system with new syllabuses introduced in all subjects. O’ Level examinations were localised to make the content relevant to the country’s needs. Ndebele and Shona languages were made compulsory at primary and secondary levels.

Cognitive of the colonial burden that projected the teacher as a know-it-all individual with monopoly on knowledge, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education revamped the education curriculum in 2016.

The obtaining rationale is that for learning to be effective as a vehicle for ferrying the concerns espoused by the curriculum as informed by societal considerations, and mirrored in individual subject structures, it should follow a learning process, which incorporates both the needs of the learner and those of the teacher, who functions in loco parentis, so that society becomes the ultimate winner.

Although no single definition may be said to be holistic in the explanation of the complex phenomenon known as curriculum, it can be simply referred to as a course of study or plan for what is to be taught in an educational institution (Wiles & Bondi in “Curriculum Development: A Guide to Practice”, 1998).

According to Gatawa in the book “The Politics of the School Curriculum: An Introduction” (1990), the curriculum is general in nature, for it encompasses all societal speculations about knowledge and what constitutes it.

Full article on www.herald.co.zw

Knowledge should have a basis as determined by society.

The body of knowledge that a society draws from should be imparted on the individual in such a way that he will be able to use the same information to evoke his own untapped inherent knowledge, so that he not only improves himself, but the society that shapes him as well.

Because it is generally tailored towards some definite direction or purpose where goals considered by society to be appropriate are achieved, the curriculum can, therefore, be said to mirror both the social and political aspects of society.

The curriculum has purposes, aims or objectives, which reflect general societal aspirations. Society plays a significant role in determining what is considered worthwhile knowledge, desirable attitudes and relevant skills.

However, because knowledge is dynamic since it constantly changes with the coming on board of new truths in the ever-changing universe, policymakers should always be privy to any shift in expectation to make what is considered knowledge remain relevant to societal needs.

This is why the Government of Zimbabwe’s shift to a new model, which combines marks for continuous assessment and final examinations, is apt and commendable. 

According to the new structure, the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) examinations and the Continuous Assessment Framework will now comprise the weighted contribution to learner performance results in Grade Seven, Form Four and Form Six public examinations.

Not only will the framework ensure fair marks for pupils, but it will take into cognisance pupils’ different abilities, including knowledge basis, skills, values and other achievements in class, which will be incorporated into the final examination marks.

Learners’ individual talents, gender, disabilities, socio-economic background will also be taken into consideration, along with ability to engage information communication technology (ICT) enhanced platforms, and the Unhu/Ubuntu philosophy.

Through the Continuous Assessment Framework, learners are groomed, not only to know, but do whatever they would have learnt in school and acquired via non-formal instruction, starting from Early Childhood Development (ECD) to secondary level.

Ultimately all learners will benefit.

However, for effective implementation, the benefits of continuous assessment must be inculcated in learners, teachers and parents for them to fully understand what it entails, rather than leaving everything to chance.

Although more still needs to be done to shift from the colonial mind-set of perceived knowledge, continuous assessment at primary and secondary levels may be the starting point, where other talents and psychomotor objectives are factored in to complement cognitive abilities.

You Might Also Like

Comments

Take our Survey

We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey