WATCH: CALA was done haphazardly – says Education Minister; concept to undergo changes

By James Muonwa l Mashonaland West Correspondent

THE controversial Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALA) model is poised for wholesome changes to remove the burden on learners, teachers and parents.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Torerai Moyo said curriculum changes are set to be implemented as early as February 2024 following the CALA curriculum review exercise completed recently.

Addressing education stakeholders in Chinhoyi, on Thursday, Moyo said the uproar over CALA had necessitated the review.

“As a ministry, we got complaints from parents who were saying they were doing assignments for their children.

“Theoretically CALA is good, there is nothing wrong with it but l think it was done haphazardly,” said the Education minister.

“You find a student in Grade Seven doing 27 CALAs, how then (at this rate) do we insist on quality education? So we are going to see some changes before the end of February in terms of CALA.

“Either we reduce the number of CALAs from 27 to two, and at secondary we could say just one CALA…”

The cabinet is scheduled to deliberate on the findings of the curriculum review exercise in early February, before the implementation of recommendations thereafter.

The CALA system has sparked controversy amid calls by most parents for it to be scrapped completely.

Educators are on record saying CALA has increased learning disparities faced by rural pupils as most rural schools lack the infrastructure and resources necessary to administer the contentious curriculum.