By Esther Chisola
National Action for Quality Education (NAQEZ) Executive Director Aaron Chansa says the restructured education system which was approved by Cabinet last week, will help reduce intolerance among citizens, especially politicians.
And Chansa says the reduced years of early childhood and primary from four to three and seven to six respectively is a welcome move, saying what matters is quality and not the number of years one spends in school.
Last week, Cabinet approved the draft 2023 Zambia Education Curriculum Framework which proposed to restructure the education system.
Among the changes to be made was to reduce the duration of Early Childhood Education from four to three years; reducing the duration of Primary Education from seven to six years; and increasing the duration of Secondary Education from five to six years.
This also paves way for the introduction of Advanced Levels -A levels- Education at Secondary Education stage; and reducing the duration of Degree courses from four to three years.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, Chansa said the decision to restructure the education system would impart good morals and values of love and tolerance in people at a younger age.
He said stakeholders had been concerned with young ones insulting elders with impunity which he said was not good.
“It’s not part of our culture and we have also seen a lot of hate speeches, a lot of tribal sentiments and this is also not good for national unity. So, the values that have been included will talk about love, tolerance and also respecting elders, tolerating different views and also embracing each other’s tribes,” Chanda said.
He said the education sector was key and children needed to be cultured when they are still young so that the country could begin to produce respectful citizens.
Chansa further called on the Ministry of Education to popularise the decision and orient the teachers.
“So, we are happy, we hope that this curriculum will be launched next year and also being popularised. We also hope that the Ministry of Education will orient teachers in the new curriculum so that the teachers can effectively implement the new curriculum, otherwise it’s a very good thing and we are happy.
And commenting on the reduced duration of early childhood education and primary education, Chansa welcomed the move.
“I think it’s good, it’s also okay. What’s important is the content. As long as the content is okay, the teacher pupil ratios are okay, the books are available and there is also emphasis on quality. There must be quality assurance mechanisms that must be able to be put in place in order to improve the quality. It’s not just about the number of years that matters, it’s about the quality. It’s a welcome move, what we want is quality in our system,” said Chansa.
Other proposed measures include, reducing the eligibility entry age into Grade one from seven to six year.
