National Action for Quality Education in Zambia (NAQEZ) says the new Competency-Based school Curriculum (CBC) is responsive to the needs of both society and learners. 

In a phone interview with ZANIS, NAQEZ Executive Director Aaron Chansa, says the CBC is progressive as it will equip learners with vital skills and craft clear career pathways.

Dr. Chansa explained that the new curriculum has reduced the number of subjects at the foundation stage from five to three, allowing learners more time to develop reading, writing, and numeracy skills.

He stated that the CBC has introduced clear and progressive career pathways, starting from Form One, with eight pathways that emphasize orientation in technology, agriculture, home economics, and social sciences.

“This will give learners a solid foundation to acquire vocational skills, life skills, and academic skills that will enable them to earn a living,” said Dr. Chansa.

He added that the curriculum also places a strong emphasis on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), entrepreneurship, critical thinking, problem-solving and critical analysis.

Dr. Chansa further commended the government for banning automatic progression to secondary school and introducing advanced levels, which will improve intakes into tertiary institutions. 

He expressed hope that the government will invest heavily in producing learning materials and training teachers in new teaching approaches and techniques.

“We believe that a strong curriculum is the basis for quality education and quality education produces quality graduates who add value to the labour market,” observed Dr. Chansa.