ZELP Good Educational Foundation – Gata

ZELP Good Educational Foundation – Gata

Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Honourable Angeline Gata has said the Zimbabwe Early Learning Policy she launched recently in Kadoma is a good foundation for on which the already existing policies on education can leverage on.

Education policies have since been improved from education 3:0 to Education 5:0.
The previous 3:0 focused on teaching creating labourers and mere workers for the former white colonizers while under the new Education 5.0 emphasis is on creating masters and employers, as institutions of higher and tertiary education are expected to champion teaching, research, community services, innovation, and industrialization, a major shift from Education 3.0, which was only limited to teaching, research, and community services.

The recently launched policy focuses on catching them younger than before. Zimbabwe had a 7-4-2 formal education structure. Primary school had an official entry age of six and a duration of seven grades. Secondary school is divided into two cycles: lower secondary consists of grades 8 – 11 better known as form 1 – 4 and upper secondary consists of grades 12 – 13 better known as Advanced Level (form 5 – 6).

Hon Gata exclusively revealed to TechnoMag that early learning will be a deliberate policy to start bringing into the school system a child as soon as they turn four years old instead of the previous six.

“The Government of Zimbabwe is committed to strengthening foundational learning in response to a call made at the Transforming Education summit held in September 2022.

She went on to say, “Its emphasis is on the acceleration of foundational learning and the enhancement of literacy and numeracy competencies as building blocks for improved performance at higher levels.”

Gata told delegates that indeed a strong learning foundation is expedient to improve learning results.