By Tendai Ruombwa.
Harare, Zimbabwe. (News Of The South) – Have a seat dear reader because the facts in this piece are mildly depressing especially to a rigid Christian reader so get ready to be knocked down.
The new education curriculum that was introduced early this year has received some mixed reactions from the public. But most of all it has put the minister responsible for Primary and secondary education Dr Lazarus Dokora on the public spotlight and he is arguably the most hated man in Zimbabwe right now, at least according to public perception. Negative publicity and a running court case have not helped the matter. This is understandable considering that change in whatever sector is fought and resisted but indeed is a necessary evil.
But how is that a man who is pioneering change in a sector that has relied on a 1980 curriculum find few admirers or sympathisers? This new curriculum, we are told, is about exposing our children to Islamic religion. What a poor move to do!
But he has found unlikely sympathisers in Reverend Sam Malunga of Tehillar Christian network and like-minded clergy who believe the move to separate religion from education was long overdue, “the point being missed by the misplaced critics is that firstly Zimbabwe guarantees freedom of religion what the new curriculum seeks to achieve is bring an element of inclusivity to allow diverse religions to acquire an education without being initiated into each other’s religion. Our Teachers are trained educators not evangelists or Sunday school teachers”, quipped Rev Malunga.
One of the shameless heresy being paddled is that the new curriculum seeks to remove the teaching of Christianity and replace it with Islamic. And poor Christians are in the panic mood! The fact that Dokora himself is alleged to be a Moslem has not helped matters but fueled a robust resistance. This is, of course, a convenient assumption, by a people who have hardly taken time to read the new curriculum in its fullness.
A closer look at the document show that education is simply trying to separate itself from religious connotations so that the two entities don’t compromise each other. Not to say Christians will have no say in the system. But on the contrary, this should challenge them to invest in education even more by constructing schools. The curriculum opened its doors to any religion with an interest to invest in the sector to construct schools where they are free to supplement the curriculum with their religious values.
For all its worth it’s a given that Moslems amongst other religions will grab this opportunity with their money bags and plant as many schools as possible. And here the fears of the Christians might come true after all!
Out of desperation the Christians have threatened to demonstrate against the new curriculum with some hostile messages send through the social media but one cannot help thinking that this is misdirected effort.
I don’t want you to think dear reader that I am a fanatic sympathiser of Dr Dokora a man whose policies have raised eyebrows since his appointment. But this is a call for a deeper introspection amongst Christian groupings to reflect on what it really means to be a Christian and why do we seem to have contradicting doctrines amongst ourselves as Christians. With a polarised Christian doctrine whose doctrine is supposed to be included in the curriculum?
But if for a moment our flamboyant church leaders desist from acting like Hollywood stars living exotic lives and driving extremely expensive cars and invest in school construction surely demonstrating will be misdirected energy. Only God knows the number of churches we have in this beautiful country of ours and if each church took it upon itself to just construct a single school never mind the size who on earth would ever want to go to a Moslem school or let their children attend one?
For me it’s a case of misplaced priorities and feigning crocodile tears, if Christians are indeed Christians isn’t it worth being seen by their works as implied by Apostle James ‘faith without works is dead’! constructing expensive hotels, investing in gold mining, flying helicopters should surely not take precedence over investing in education.
My take on the new curriculum having read the policy document and engaged the minister involved is that Christians don’t need to feel pity as if they have been neglected by the system. As a growing multicultural society, Zimbabwe continually faces the challenges of plurality. The emphasis is now not only on Christianity, but also on all the other main religions as well as philosophy and secular world views. Cultural understanding, tolerance, dialogue and identity building are in focus.
One will be surprised to know that Zimbabwe is actually a late comer to the era of inclusivity and diversity in all spheres of life. What Dr Dokora and his ministry have introduced has already been put to practice in our Southern Neighbours South Africa. The educational policy in the post-apartheid South Africa reflects this double aim: unity and diversity, expressed by the slogan “Unity in Diversity”. This new integrated school system aims at taking the social, ethnic, cultural and religious challenges of the new South Africa seriously.
Pax Gomo a prominent gospel musician in his own right also opinion that Christians should move with time and create an inclusive society, “the complains I have heard with regard to the curriculum are not educational but social and I’m thinking as Christians we need to move from the syndrome of othering the other and find better ways of co-existing”, he said.
Instead of dichotomising the world, school children should learn to appreciate diversity and fight for equality. In the multicultural classroom, the discovery of diversity among equals could turn out to be a fascinating journey into the religious practice and world views of their classmates. What the Christians need to understand is that the new curriculum is not an attack on their faith and religion but a push to implement the Godly works in the education sector.
Whilst the new curriculum is not perfect in its own right just like any policy document it is fraught with its shortcomings from a poor implementation to touching on religious nerves at least it is chatting a new path of inclusivity, diversity and bringing a much-needed practical component that has lacked in our education system. Instead of giving the responsible ministry sticks lets unite and give them our moral support.
The new curriculum all but seek to creating the all-important building blocks’ to ‘make children resilient enough to deal with the pressures and risks that the modern world throws at them and to be tolerant and co-exist with peers with a diverse culture and religion. Do we really want to reduce the new curriculum to lessons in Islamic and ignore the all-important attributes? If as Christians we take a deep self-introspection maybe after all we will realise that this new curriculum is the kind of push, we needed to invest in education and instead of resorting to circular ways of resolving disputes and feeling pity for ourselves we are better of constructing schools and investing in a new generation of Christian generals!
There is no better way to sum it up than what a form 6 pupil at a government school said, “it’s like the new curriculum is taking away what we never had, it’s my sixth year at a government school and I don’t remember any church or pastor being actively involved in the school programs so I am baffled now to hear so called Christians bemoaning the new curriculum as promoting Islamic. I think Christians have been too laid back and passive and this is a wakeup call for them to play a meaningful role in the education for their pupils”. So, there you have it gentle readers, the butt is after all in your hands!
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