PRIMARY and Secondary Education minister Evelyn Ndlovu says her ministry will soon engage stakeholders to review the Continuous Assessment Learning Activity (Cala) curriculum which has not been updated since 2015.
The Cala curriculum has been heavily criticised by students, parents and teachers for being a challenge because no training was ever done prior to its introduction, while it is also financially demanding.
Speaking during the National Association of Primary Heads (NAPH) conference on Tuesday, Ndlovu said the Primary and Secondary Education ministry would soon engage stakeholders to review the curriculum.
“As you are all aware, our curriculum has run its course — that is from 2015 to 2022 — and it is now up for review. Shortly the ministry will involve all stakeholders in the country for their input,” Ndlovu said.
This year’s conference was held under the theme Facing the Future in the New Normal.
The minister expressed regret that the recently released United Nations (UN) figures showed that the literacy rate in Zimbabwe had dropped from 95% to 93% since 2015, an indication that the COVID-19 pandemic induced learning poverty.
She urged school heads to “ensure that learners attain the four macro-skills of reading, writing, arithmetic and digital literacy”.
Parents and guardians of primary and secondary school learners have in several cases raised concern over the Cala programme, which they say is elitist, making it difficult for children to develop interest in schoolwork.
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Parents are also against Cala because most of them cannot afford materials needed by children to successfully carry out projects.
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