Agriculture exams for Grade seven pupils - Dokora

GRADE seven pupils countrywide will this year sit for agriculture examinations, Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora has announced.

Dokora said it would be a  trial run.

Speaking at the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union (ZFU)'s Young Farmers Club Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Project Phase 2 launch in Mazowe, Dokora said the government would begin examining Grade Seven pupils in the practical subject which will now be taught from as early as Grade 3 in all primary schools.

"My ministry has arranged to have a trial Grade Seven examination in agriculture this year. This is meant to make both teachers and learners to take agriculture seriously," he said.

"Agriculture is the key economic driver and the biggest employer in Zimbabwe, hence, there is need to take it seriously not as something that should be done by those who have failed to make it in life.

"Agriculture studies begin in Grade 3 and it is at the centre of this new curriculum. This was not an accident, but a deliberate strategy to support the land reform programme in the country. Today Zimbabweans have the land, but not necessarily the skills to work on the land."