PARENTS attending the two-day Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALA) curriculum review consultation meetings conducted by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education have said the CALA must be scrapped as they make learning difficult for pupils.
The curriculum review exercise started on Monday with
players in the education sector conducting consultations.
Yesterday, parents and guardians were roped in to air their
views on the CALA.
They said CALA must be removed as a significant number of
learners come from disadvantaged families and struggle to complete the required
activities.
Some said they are more difficult for learners from remote
areas as they face network challenges and do not have access to the internet.
Mrs Patricia Manzini, who has three children at Thomas
Rudland Primary School said CALA are very expensive.
She said this was now compromising the education of
disadvantaged learners.
“As it is, we don’t have money for something as basic as
bread and everyone can see the situation in the country right now.
CALA requires learners to research and print out different
materials which will be needed for filing.
“It honestly becomes a lot and guardians choose things that
seem to be more important like food other than paying money for these papers
that need to be printed,” said Mrs Manzini.
Another parent, Mrs Sophia Musinazano, said not only were
CALA problematic for pupils in rural areas who face connectivity challenges to
research on their projects but they were also difficult for those living in
urban areas as they also face financial challenges when carrying out their
projects.
She said as a result, learners lose the 30 percent they
would have earned had they studied on their own and prepared for examinations.
If the Government wants to do this, they should put up
unlimited WiFi at schools and allow all learners to go with their cellphones to
school. That way, they will all be able to get their work done.
“Those in rural areas would need to have network boosters
installed so that they can also benefit. If that can’t be done then the CALAs
should be removed,” said Mrs Musinazano.
The competence-based curriculum is being reviewed after its
first seven-year cycle came to an end last year following its introduction in
2015.
The curriculum is aimed at tooling pupils with skills to
survive in the 21st century that is technologically driven.
In an interview, educationist and Faculty of Science and
Technology Education executive dean at the National University of Science and
Technology (Nust) Professor Lwazi Sibanda said the competence-based curriculum
has ushered in a generation of skilled learners, who do not just memorise
theories just to pass their examinations.
She said in reviewing the curriculum, the education sector
needs to address the shortcomings that come with CALA.
“The CALA issue needs to be addressed because you will find
that the parents are the ones that are doing the assignments instead of the
learners. The learners are the ones who are supposed to be doing that by
themselves,” she said.
“The issue of continuous assessment should be clearly spelt
out unlike what we are seeing now. Parents and guardians are complaining, it’s
as if they are the ones who are learning. Even in the streets there are some
placards where individuals will be advertising that they do CALA assignments.”
Prof Sibanda said CALA should enhance pupils’ ingenuity but
this cannot be realised if parents and guardians are the ones doing the
assignments.
She said curriculum reviews are necessary to weigh intended
targets against outcomes while aligning with global trends.
“The curriculum review is important so that as a nation we
might follow global trends in education. Education is dynamic, not static. So,
we need to keep it in line with global trends so that our learners acquire
necessary skills that will help them in life,” she said.
“The good thing that has been brought about by the
curriculum is the hands-on approach. The competence-based curriculum speaks to
competencies learners have when they leave school. It encourages learners to
have skills unlike in the previous situation where pupils were expected to cram
theories.”
Prof Sibanda said the stakeholder consultations will enable
the ministry to listen to all the players that are involved in education.
Chronicle
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