No going back on CALA, govt tells teachers

GOVERNMENT has vowed to continue with the Continuous Assessment Learning Activity (CALA) in schools despite reservations by other stakeholders, describing critics of the programme as "non-progressive".

Teachers and other key stakeholders in the education sector have been lobbying for suspension of the programme this year citing COVID-19 disruptions to the school calendar, adding that pupils had little learning time to undergo continuous assessment.

But Primary and Secondary Education deputy minister Edgar Moyo told NewsDay yesterday that there was no going back on the programme.

"CALA is a very important assessment tool, competence-based curriculum. The government cannot ignore the skills that learners will acquire even with the limited time before examinations. This will assist learners to gain confidence that if they go to the examinations they will be having something," he said.

"We cannot listen to those who say postpone this, extend that. If we listened to them, we would have stopped opening schools when the rest of the world is opening up. The most vocal are non-progressive, but the progressive ones are quiet. They must reduce their appetite of postponing this and postponing that."

Moyo said pupils should learn to adapt by observing COVID-19 protocols as preventive measures, adding that other activities under CALA were scaled down in recognition of little time left.

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe Matabeleland North provincial chairperson Kwanele Ndlovu last week said teachers and students would have a challenge in trying to balance time for syllabus coverage and CALA, given the little time left before examinations.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association acting national secretary-general Goodwill Taderera said it was not proper for government to force teachers to administer CALA.