New Curriculum And CALA Here To Stay

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Officials in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education have said that continuous assessment learning activities (CALA) are here to stay.

The Government is currently in the process of reviewing the competence-based curriculum and CALA has been the major contentious issue under the new curriculum.

Some parents, learners as well as teachers have been resisting the implementation of CALA.

The competence-based curriculum is being reviewed after its first seven-year cycle came to an end last year after being introduced in 2015.

Primary and Secondary Education Ministry Permanent Secretary Tumisang-Thabela said curriculum review does not mean that the Government was doing away with the new curriculum.

Addressing journalists during a curriculum review media engagement workshop, in Darwendale, Zvimba, Mashonaland West Province, Thabela said:

Our curriculum must be positioned to provide a sustainable base for the production of critical and skilled human capital that will propel the country into an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.

… The new assessment model takes into cognisance pupils’ different abilities and flairs, including skills, inherent talents, values and other achievements both in and out of class.

These soft and hard skills observed over a period of time are then incorporated into the final examination marks.

The CALA have thus become a key part of how we accredit the overall performance of a learner as a system.

As we review the curriculum, all these aspects will also be reviewed to ensure they are in line with the educational aspirations of the country.

Thabela said the ministry will be conducting nationwide consultative meetings before producing the curriculum for the next seven-year cycle. She said:

The Ministry will also avail various platforms through which stakeholders can make their submissions while also holding external meetings with special interest groups.

Once all the contributions from stakeholders have come through, the Ministry will produce the 2023-2030 Curriculum Framework for Primary and Secondary Education (another seven-year cycle).

Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) research manager Francis Chirume said:

We are now assessing 21st-century skills, teamwork, time management, unhu/ubuntu, and leadership, all those skills will be assessed because they are pertinent and significant in our day-to-day lives.

We focus on peer and self-assessment. The learners should be in a position to judge the work of others so that they can improve.

Gone are the days when we teach for competition, we don’t assess for competition, we assess so that we find out what the learners are able to do and what they are not able to do. We assess so that we can tap the talent of our learners.

He said CALA are not extra work for teachers as this is similar to homework that has always been part of the education system.

The only difference, according to Chirume, is that the work is being standardised within schools.

Chirume said it is academic fraud when parents pay some individuals to do CALA assignments for their children.

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe Follow Africa-Press