The role of information and communication technology in implementing the new curriculum framework in Zimbabwean secondary schools: The case of Glen View-Mufakose district.

Abstract

In a bid to align the Zimbabwean education and training sub-sectors to the evolving needs of the nation, the Nziramasanga Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training (CIET) put forward several recommendations. One of the recommendations was that secondary education should respond to the needs of the society. Technocrats in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MOPSE) translated the CIET recommendations into an actionable curriculum policy. Between 2014 and 2016, the MOPSE designed a new curriculum and prepared the relevant teaching-learning inputs. Implementation of the new schools curriculum started in the year 2017 in all the schools that is, primary and secondary including government and private owned schools. This research focused on the implementation of the new curriculum at secondary level. The aim was to analyse the role played by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) if properly tapped. Above all, ICT is a key cross-cutting theme in all the new curriculum syllabuses developed for secondary schools. This motivated the researcher to find out if in reality schools are reacting to the demands of the 21st Century that is, teaching and learning using computer-based information systems. In addition, the research was confined in the secondary schools found in Glen View-Mufakose District even though the results can be the same with so many secondary schools around Zimbabwe. Singled out for a greater depth of analysis as an objective here is the criticalness of ICTs in making the new curriculum an achievable dream. The respondents of the research were drawn from the teaching experts which include; the ICT teachers, school heads in Glen View-Mufakose District, and others. The research found that most secondary schools in Glen View-Mufakose District are not effectively tapping ICTs into the new curriculum due to a plethora of challenges which include; lack of adequate financial resources to buy ICT equipment and so on. The research concluded among an array of things that in-service training for teacher development to implement the new curriculum is very key in the adoption of ICTs in most schools. The major recommendation made from the study is that, government through MOPSE should provide in-training service to teachers on the use of ICTs in the teaching practice. Further research is suggested in the area of assessing the effectiveness of teacher capacity development initiatives in the implementation of the new schools’ curriculum with the aid of ICTs.