Caiphus Nziramasanga

Professor Caiphus Nziramasanga is a renowned educationist in Zimbabwe. He was the chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training also known as the Nziramasanga Commision of Inquiry in 1998 which inquired into the Education System of Zimbabwe.

Grade 7, O' Level Examinations

In 2015, Nziramasanga called for the scrapping of Grade 7 and Ordinary Level examinations saying they have become redundant and expensive.^[1]

He said examinations should be replaced with a continuous assessment programme that would monitor the progress of children from Early Childhood Education (ECD) up to Advanced Level.

Nziramasanga also criticised the new curriculum draft while addressing a public lecture at Bindura University of Science Education on 13 August 2015. He said:

This is a system introduced by the colonial regime to prevent blacks from reaching tertiary education so why are we still holding on to it when it has become irrelevant to 21st-century education? That the exams should go is what the commission found, not Nziramasanga as a person and if you can go on to do your research you will find out that these proposals were once adopted sometime in 1997 but only to be reversed before full implementation.

Continuous Assessment Learning Activities (CALA)

During a curriculum review by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in 2023, Nziramasanga said the number of CALA components per subject should be reduced to ensure learners fully benefit from the exercise.

It was Nziramasanga's research when he was the chairman of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Education and Training in the 1990s that set the stage for the adoption of CALA.^[2] He said:

The reduction of the number of activities per subject should depend on the grade or ability of the learner.
A learner should have one or two activities per subject they master from primary to secondary level.
After O' Level or A Level, if they cannot proceed, they can join vocational training centres.
The research part should be removed and the activities left with a practical side that lets the learner get the highest point of skills in any activity.
CALA should be used to screen learners so that those who are not academically gifted can exclusively focus on practical subjects and they can be assessed by HEXCO (Higher Education Examinations Council).
This helps learners to be masters in specific disciplines. The education we now need is one that lets learners create their own employment.