Primary school teachers last week told The Zimbabwean that the new syllabus had been incorporated as part of the social studies curriculum. They said it included subjects similar to those taught at Border Gezi training centres, such as liberation war history, the role of chiefs, sanctions and other issues such as sovereignty and governance. “I have ordered an investigation. No school is entitled to introduce a new syllabus which conflicts with the national syllabus,” said Minister David Coltart, in an e-mail response to questions.
National and Strategic Studies were first compulsorily introduced in polytechnics, colleges and universities by the previous Zanu (PF) led government five years ago. Content has attracted the ire of both students and parents for being biased towards Zanu (PF). Some of the previous question papers for final examinations for the subject seen by The Zimbabwean contain questions like:” Which political party in Zimbabwe represents the interests of imperialists and how must it be viewed by Zimbabweans?” Another was: “African leaders who try to serve the interests of imperialists are called what and how do you view patriotism?”
Good idea but we need to define and understand what propaganda means and highlight where it is going wrong.