The review of curriculum is essential for successful achieving educational goals for learners.

It
asks for systematic approach which should respect several aspects such as, the needs of the
school, society, the learners and teaching staff. Thus, this review should be maximal efficient and
effective. However, it is impossible for an educational program to exist and progress smoothly
without the existence of curriculum. Therefore, every curriculum must be relevant to the needs of
society. This paper therefore, endeavors to state the major concern that lead to the review of
junior secondary school curriculum and it will further critically analyze the relevance of each
salient changes that were made in the previous mentioned review above to the Zambian society.
The paper will begin by defining key terms such as curriculum, and thereafter discuss the main
purpose of the paper.

Kochhar, (2008: 67) defines curriculum as “the instructional and educative program through
which the pupils achieve their goals and aspirations of life”. The curriculum consists of
components/elements such as the curriculum intent, content, learning activities, learning
experiences and lastly evaluation. All these components of the curriculum are interrelated and
important for an effective curriculum implementation. Further, Adagale (2015) states that
curriculum is the improvement of programs of study, learning and teaching resources, lesson
plans and assessment of students and even teacher education are all centered on curriculum.

The Junior Secondary School Curriculum is a two year course that covers Grades 8 and 9 of the
Zambian Education system. It forms the basis for the acquisition of knowledge, skills and values
needed for learning in subsequent formal studies at Senior Secondary School. The curriculum at
this level also equips learners with knowledge and skills to either continue with the academic
education or pursue pre-vocational and life skills. Therefore, the Government has developed a
new school curriculum that will enable learners to choose a career path and guidance framework
on the preferred type of education for the nation.

However, there are a number of factors that lead to the review of junior secondary school
curriculum. Some of these factors include the following;

One of the major concerns that lead to the review of junior secondary school curriculum is the
two Career Pathways which was not there in the old junior secondary school curriculum.
According to Ministry of Education (2013), there will be two Career Pathways at this level,
Academic and Vocational. The academic pathway is meant for learners with passion for
academic subjects and desire for careers in that direction. The Vocational Career Pathway is for
learners with ambitions and interests in technical and practical jobs. Thus, the curriculum will
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provide practical skills to such learners starting at Grade 8 through to Grade 12. In the provision
of this curriculum, schools will closely collaborate with trade institutes and other key
stakeholders in various areas of specializations (GRZ, 2005).

Also the Junior Secondary Schools to offer both Academic and Technical Career Pathways in the
same institution was another major concern that leads to the review of junior secondary school
curriculum. However, each Junior Secondary School will be restricted to offering only two (2)
Technical and Vocational options.

The Curriculum Development Centre (1999) stipulates that integrating some of the subjects was
another major concern that leads to the review of junior secondary school curriculum. For
example, Wood work, Metal work, Technical Drawing and Building Crafts has been integrated
into Design and Technology. This has been done in order to produce holistic learners with
knowledge and skills in these areas. Additionally, Book Keeping and Office Practice have been
integrated into Business Studies. The subjects have been integrated in order to equip learners
with essential business skills necessary for them to have basic knowledge of the business world.
In order to equip all learners at this level with basic business studies knowledge and skills,
Business Studies will be offered as a core learning area.

Similarly, Civic Education, Geography and History have been integrated into Social Studies
because some content in the subjects is interrelated and some competences are similar, too. The
Ministry attaches a lot of importance to these subjects and therefore, it cannot afford to make
them optional at this level. Of late, History is becoming a very unpopular subject among learners
at this level and if it was made optional, many learners will not take it (M. O. E., 2013).

On the other hand, Computer Studies (CS) has been introduced as a subject at this level. The
subject has been introduced in order to equip learners with essential skills necessary for them to
have basic knowledge of ICTs. Furthermore, Zambian Languages shall be offered in the new
curriculum as core subjects to be studied by all learners pursuing the Academic Career Pathway.
In addition, Entrepreneurship Education has been integrated in appropriate subjects at this level
with emphasis on learners running small business projects in groups (GRZ, 2005). However, the
Vocational subjects have been allocated more time to enable the learners apply skills learnt. A
single period will last one hour twenty minutes (1 hr 20 minutes – covering 3 periods of 40
minutes each).

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Notwithstanding the above major concerns (i.e. changes) that lead to the review of junior
secondary school curriculum, however, they are relevant to the need of the learner and the
society as a whole. The relevance of these salient changes that were made in the previous
mentioned review above to the Zambian society includes the following;

According to Ministry of Education (2013), two career pathways at the Junior Secondary School
level, that is Academic and Vocational, they are meant for learners with passion for academic
subjects and desire for careers in that direction. And on the other hand, for learners with
ambitions and interests in technical and practical jobs. Consequently, the review of the
curriculum will provide practical skills to such learners starting at Grade 8 through to Grade 12.

The integration of some subjects such as civic, geography and history as social studies has
become of social relevance when it is related to the life needs of society. For example, when
subject such as civics are taught in schools and consists of political aspect of a particular country
such as ways of electing a president, law and regulations of a country. The curriculum content
should therefore, bring about social change in all angles of society. It should be an instrument for
social change that is related to national integration, social justice as well as democratic values.

On the other hand, the geography that was offered long ago was not of social relevance because
its content consisted of farming system related to Canada which was not applicable the Zambian
context. At present, the geography that is being taught in schools consists of content which is
related to the activities of society such as fishing on Lake Tanganyika, agriculture practices on
large and small scale farming. The content constitutes of local and regional aspects of geography
which learners learn and apply in the immediate society (Urevbu, 1994).

Furthermore, the review of curriculum changed due to the flexibility of the changing society.
This is so because the world is changing every day therefore, curriculum content should as well
change from time to time so as to respond to the needs of a changing society. For example, the
introduction of ICT or the use of computer is becoming an essential aspect in the educational
system; hence, content on computers should be included in the school curriculum because
computer devices are being used for various purposes such as communication, and retrieval of
information. According to Bishop (1985), at present, some schools in Zambia are meeting this
need by offering lessons in computers; schools such as Ndola Girls Technical School are offering
such subjects (comp

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uter studies) and pupils are examined. Curriculum content should therefore change so as to
portend transformations in the near future.

Besides this, Ministry of Education (2013) argued that the curriculum change responded to the
culture of a given society or nation, that is when it includes culture norms and values of that
society which give learners a sense of belonging. The curriculum content should therefore
contain culturally relevant materials which include; formal curriculum materials, informal
classroom materials, and classroom interactions. In this sense, culturally relevant materials
enable diversity in learners so as to be more successful by contextualizing learning and making
connections with home cultures, allowing for learning and development to be based on the
students’ experiences and learning styles, and building cultural capital that allows each student to
feel valued in the school environment.

More importantly, the review of curriculum changes has provided adequate study of language
especially local languages, (Kochhar, 2008). Language is very important for communication
purposes hence the provision of official and local language (i.e. Zambian Languages) in the
curriculum content will help the learner communicate effectively outside the school
environment. Additionally, language also helps people later in life especially those who take
journalism as their career will be at an advantage as they will find it easy to interact with the
local community and get information which will solve a problem which that particular society is
facing. Consequently, the revised curriculum is from early education to higher education; its
features are Grade one to four which will use local languages as medium of instruction - two tier
system of education; one that is academic and another which is skills oriented.

From the foregoing discussion, it can be deduced that the review of curriculum change brought
drastic changes in the education system of Zambia in terms of the two career pathways at the
Junior Secondary School level, that is Academic and Vocational, and the content integrated.
Thus, this review has allowed learning to become more meaningful and relevant in the Zambian
society. It supports policy formulation and standard setting for reform of the curriculum and the
impact of this on teacher skills and knowledge. Additionally, the curriculum change involved the
use of local materials both as the subject and object of instruction. Also involved making the
local culture an integral part of the curriculum.

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 REFERENCES

Adagale, A. S. (2015). Curriculum Development in Higher Education. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Bishop, G. (1985). Curriculum Development: A Textbook for Students. London: Macmillan

Publishers Ltd

Curriculum Development Centre (1999). International and National Conventions and

Declarations of Relevance to the Formulation of
the Zambian School Curriculum. Ministry of
Education, Lusaka: Zambia.

Curriculum Development Centre (1999). Primary and Basic School Teachers’ Views on the
Basic School Curriculum. Ministry of Education,
Lusaka: Zambia.

Government Republic of Zambia, (2005). The Technical Education, Vocational and

Entrepreneurship Training Act No. 13 of 1998
and TEVET (Amendment Act No. 11 of 2005).
Lusaka, Zambia.

Kochhar, S. K. (2008). Methods and Techniques of Teaching. (2nd Edition). New Delhi: Sterling
Publishers Private, Limited.

Ministry of Education. (2013). The Zambia Education Curriculum Framework 2013. Lusaka:
The Curriculum Development Centre, CDC.

Urevbu, A. (1994). Curriculum Studies (2nd Edition). Singapore: Longman Publishers

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