By Evans Muranganwa.
Harare, Zimbabwe. (News Of The South) – A teachers union has revealed that the new education curriculum is posing challenges to teachers.
In a statement the Almagated Rural Teachers Union(ARTUZ) on the opening of schools on Tuesday said ‘the new learning season failed to kick-start today as both teachers and learners grapple with challenges of implementing the new curriculum’.
It went on to stipulate that a snap survey conducted by the organization revealed that 98 percent of sampled schools in rural areas were not ready and will not be ready to implement the new curriculum for the next week.
It is reported that in secondary schools, Form 3 pupils were the most affected as they are not empowered to tackle new learning areas such as computers and pure sciences subjects and on top of that most schools are understaffed .
In an interview with this reporter ,an educationist Mr Philip Dzvetero said while a new curriculum was imminent ,the haste in which government is introducing it was bound to cause a lot of confusion.
“The government should be applauded for coming up with a new curriculum but the manner in which they have rushed to implement it needs no Rocket scientist to see that it was going not smooth- sail.
“There was the need to capacitate teachers and learners with resources and knowledge for effective implementation,” said Dzvetero.
A teacher who requested anonymity said the amount of work they are now suppose to do does not correspond with the meager salaries they get from government.
“Our government is not considerate , how can they burden us with such a work load when we are getting pittances from them,’ fumed the teacher.
Despite the new curriculum setback, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union also bemoaned the low morale of teachers with regards to the uncertainty of their bonus payments.
“Teachers are further demoralized with uncertainty of bonuses,” said the organisation’s president Obert Masaraure.
He furthers says some parents are struggling to raise school fees and some are opting for barter trade as the cash crunch bites. The organisation further said that the incessant rains have also forced some school children not to attend the schools opening due to floods in some areas.
Government is implementing a new curriculum which is aimed at empowering students with life skills and vocational training.
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