The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has said a structured framework is in place to ensure that learners currently on the Cambridge curriculum will not be disadvantaged when the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) becomes the sole examining body for all national examinations from 2027.
Taungana Ndoro, the ministry’s director of Communications and Advocacy, said learners currently in Form 3 and Lower 6 who are on the Cambridge route will sit ZIMSEC O Level and A Level examinations, respectively, in their final year.
He added that the directive, announced by the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Torerayi Moyo, makes compliance mandatory for all schools.
“After 2027, compliance will not be optional. All schools will register candidates solely through ZIMSEC for the national examinations that confer the national qualification,” Ndoro said.
“This is not a policy choice; it is a constitutional and legal imperative grounded in the Education Act.
“Section 63 mandates a single national curriculum, which can only be assessed with integrity by a single national examinations board.”
Ndoro said schools seeking to offer Cambridge examinations in addition to ZIMSEC must submit a formal application with compelling justification, demonstrating that learners can manage both syllabi without detriment to their performance in the national assessment.
The government argues that the reform will end a “two-tier system” that has historically split students by socio-economic status, with better-resourced schools offering Cambridge while others relied solely on ZIMSEC, entrenching inequality in the education sector.
“National qualifications have been wrongly perceived as inferior to international ones — a fallacy the Government can no longer entertain,” Ndoro said.
More: The Herald
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